ABSTRACT
The term dementia refers to the loss of cognitive (mental) abilities, where the mental decline is of sufficient magnitude as to interfere with occupational or social activities, or to impede the conduct of day to day affairs. Dementia is the most feared and devastating accompaniment of aging. Although there are many forms of dementia, the most frequent cause by far is Alzheimer’s disease. The second most common cause is that attributed to cerebrovascular disease (stroke), and together Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia account for approximately four-fifths of all dementia. While this article considers possible estrogen effects on both of these common causes of dementia, the focus is on estrogen and Alzheimer’s disease.
