Sreemoyee Chatterjee
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Written By: Sreemoyee Chatterjee | Updated : July 27, 2018 1:22 PM IST
In case you have recently forgotten where you have kept your Aadhaar card or you could not recall the name of your son's roommate while tackling your cranky mind post menopause, you must not waste time and seek medical help. Reason, a study conducted by the researchers at Weill Cornel Medicine, the biomedical research unit and medical school of Cornell University in New York along with the scientists at the University of Arizona Health Sciences in Tuscon have found that the metabolic changes that a woman's brain goes through at the onset of menopause or even at the peri-menopausal and post- menopausal periods can usher in Alzheimer's disease, a progressive mental deterioration that falls under the broad spectrum of Dementia, a group of symptoms affecting mental cognitive tasks like memory and reasoning.
The neurological and metabolical changes brought in by menopause have been investigated by the researchers to validate the link between menopause and Alzheimer's disease, a kind of Dementia.
Reduced glucose brain metabolism: The glucose metabolism levels in brain experience a sharp drop among peri and post menopausal women, the study shows. Earlier researches have shown that a reduced glucose metabolism level in brain leads to development of Alzheimer's disease and can trigger the symptoms as well. This is because glucose metabolism in brain acts as a chief source of energy for brain cells, which when inadequate can lead to abnormalities in brain function. The brain cells suffered from mitochondrion dysfunction and the cells were not efficient at processing required energy, found the study.
Estrogen loss may affect brain cells: If you think loss of estrogen in menopause can only diminish fertility, you are widely mistaken. Less estrogen level can affect cognitive functions of brain, the study has found. It shows that your brain has estrogen receptors and a fall in estrogen levels may lead to 'starvation reaction' in these cells, thereby leading to brain cell dysfunction. This automatically increases the chance of losing the key neuro-protective element in female brain thereby making your brain vulnerable to Alzheimer's disease.
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