New Delhi, Mar 7 (PTI) Experiencing more symptoms during menopause is related with a greater cognitive and behavioural impairment later in life, a new study has found.

Nearly 900 post-menopausal women were looked at for the study, conducted by researchers, including those from the University of Calgary, Canada.

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The team said that women around the world are known to be at a three times higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, and will be disproportionately affected by the increasing burden of dementia.

Loss of estradiol -- a primary form of the estrogen hormone -- at menopause may confer a unique risk to women, the researchers proposed.

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Further, while hormone therapy can help ease menopausal symptoms, the findings, published in the journal PLOS One, "suggest that the experience of menopause may indicate (a) susceptibility to cognitive and behavioural changes, both markers of dementia."

For the study, data from the ongoing 'CAN-PROTECT' study -- Canadian Platform for Research Online to Investigate Health, Quality of Life, Cognition, Behaviour, Function, and Caregiving in Aging -- was used. The participants, aged 64 years on average, completed demographic, cognitive, and behavioural tests.

Symptoms assessed in the study included irregular periods, hot flashes, a slowed metabolism, mood and sleep problems, inattention, among others.

The study found that women reporting more symptoms had a greater cognitive impairment in language or memory, and mild behavioural problems, such as in social conduct or impulse control.

Hormone therapy was not significantly linked with cognitive function, but with fewer behavioural symptoms, the researchers said.

A larger data set studied over a long time is needed to confirm these findings and determine how menopause symptoms cause impairment in cognition and behaviour, the researchers said.

A greater burden of menopause symptoms may be associated with greater cognitive and behavioural decline in later life, both risk markers of dementia, the team said.

They added that estrogen-based hormone therapy could help ease clinical symptoms, especially those related to behaviour.

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