Abstract:
Recent in vitro data provide evidence that estrogen may assist in the maintenance of
nervous tissue viability. Anecdotal reports suggest a lower prevalence of SDAT in
postmenopausal women who have received estrogen replacement therapy although
published data are conflicting. The purposes of this study are to determine whether the
incidence of SDAT differs between males and postmenopausal females, and whether an
inverse association exists between postmenopausal estrogen replacement therapy and
SDAT. The data sets analyzed were the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System
(PERS) (n=18,893) and pharmacy databases for 118 long term care facilities in Oregon
(n=3141). Logit analysis odds ratio, adjusted for age, for conjugated estrogen exposure
was 0.51 (95% confidence interval 0.26-0.97). Although daily dose and length of therapy
also indicated a reduced odds ratio for estrogen users vs. non-users, the results are
equivocal with this database. In conclusion, this database provides evidence that estrogen
replacement therapy has a positive impact on the prevalence of SDAT in postmenopausal
women, although the effect of length of treatment and total cumulative dose remain
unclear.
