Estrogen improves memory, oral reading in midlife postmenopausal women.

2003 OCT 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Midlife postmenopausal women who received daily treatment with estrogen showed improved oral reading and verbal memory performance, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in the September 2003 issue of the journal Menopause.

"This is the first study to specifically examine the effect of estrogen on reading ability," said principal investigator Sally Shaywitz, MD, professor of pediatrics and in the Yale Child Study Center. "The study also shows that estrogen may benefit younger postmenopausal women engaged in everyday activities, such as reading. It should encourage physicians caring for postmenopausal women to inquire about and take seriously concerns about difficulties in reading and in memory."

The study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of a group of 60 postmenopausal women ages 32.8 to 64.9. Participants were evaluated for oral reading, verbal memory, and other cognitive skills. They were treated for two periods of 21 days each: one period with estrogen and after waiting 14 days, another period with placebo.

Shaywitz obtained data on oral reading using the Gray Oral Reading Test and on verbal memory using the Wechsler Memory Scales and the Sentence Span Test. Mood was assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory and no significant difference was recorded between placebo- and estrogen-treated subjects. Vocabulary, attention, and nonverbal memory were comparable in placebo and estrogen ...