Thursday, December 10, 2015

Just When You Thought it was all Under Control…



If you have been on hormone therapy for a while, read this
 
I usually don’t get too excited about any study that talks in terms of “associated with” rather than quoting actual statistical support or even actual numbers, but… This report was published in The Journal of Clinical Oncology.

According to the Journal article there is an “association” between men being treated with hormone therapy (androgen deprivation therapy) and an increased incidence of diagnosed Alzheimer’s disease.
16,888 men with prostate cancer (2,297 being treated with a hormone therapy) were followed for 2.7 years. In this group there were 125 new diagnoses of Alzheimer’s disease. Overall, those treated with hormone therapy had an 88% higher risk of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s than those men not on hormone therapy. The longer men had been on hormone treatment, the higher the risk.

There will be further studies, of course and more definitive information will be available. In the meantime, researchers and doctors do not have any recommendations for us. Don’t stop your hormone therapy just yet.

I have been on hormone therapy for quite a few years so I will be watching this drama unfold very carefully. Maybe I’d have been better off if I had never read this. Naaaaaaa.

axman