Hormone treatment may ease menopause 'brain fog,' study suggests

Many women experiencing menopause report cognitive symptoms such as memory lapses, difficulty concentrating, and slower thinking, often referred to as "brain fog." A new study from UCLA Health suggests that a hormone treatment combining estriol and progesterone may help alleviate these symptoms, offering a potential early solution for a menopause-related issue with no current FDA-approved treatment.

The study, published in Scientific Reports, followed 20 middle-aged women (average age 53) who underwent cognitive assessments before receiving a 12-month regimen of the custom estriol and progesterone treatment. Estriol, a naturally occurring estrogen during pregnancy, has previously been shown to protect brain cells and reduce hippocampal atrophy, the brain region responsible for learning and memory.

After the treatment period, participants reported significant improvements in brain fog and various cognitive functions compared to their symptoms before treatment. UCLA neurologist Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl, the study's senior author, emphasizes the lack of approved treatments targeting cognitive symptoms during menopause and the potential of estriol as a neuroscience-based solution.

The research team also tested estriol in midlife female mice, which exhibited improved cognitive performance, including working memory and spatial memory, and reduced hippocampal pathology. However, the study's limitations, including its small sample size and non-randomized design, warrant larger, placebo-controlled trials to confirm the findings and provide standardized cognitive testing.

The treatment, invented by Dr. Voskuhl, is patented by UCLA and licensed to CleopatraRX, which markets it under the brand name PearlPAK.