HRT link to Alzheimer’s

Pills put women at increased risk

THERE’S a twist in the way this cheetah hunts as it flips upside down in a bid to catch an impala…

The hunter had to change tack after its prey leapt into the air to avoid its deadly clutches.

Canadian Jeffrey Wu, 53, captured the images in Kenya’s Masai Mara wildlife reserve. He said: “The cheetah did a perfect somersault.” Sadly for the impala, it lost the race. WOMEN who have HRT are at higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s, research suggests.

Those taking hormone replacement pills were more likely to develop the disease, said the study of 170,000 in Finland.

The increased risk was small, at an extra nine to

18 cases per 10,000 patients aged 70 to 80 each ye a r, but researchers say women should be warned.

Hanna SavolainenPeltonen, of Helsinki University, said: “Longterm use of systemic hormone therapy might be accompanied with an overall increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease... By contrast, use of vaginal estradiol shows no such risk.” Each year, 1.5 million women experience menopausal symptoms That includes about 400,000 for whom they are extreme. Around one in 10 of those is currently prescribed hormone treatment.

Dr James Pickett, of Alzheimer’s Society, said: “This large... study adds to a conflicting pool of evidence around the effect of hormone therapy on risk of developing dementia.

“In this case, some women on hormone therapy had a slight increased risk of Alzheimer’s, but this increase was so small, it shouldn’t cause alarm or deter women from their prescribed treatment.” CONCERNS Hanna Savolainen-Peltonen