Women who count more years between their first period and menopause have a lower risk of developing Parkinson's disease, new research indicates.
The findings, which will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 61st annual meeting in Seattle in April, suggest that longer exposure to the body's own hormones may help protect brain cells affected by Parkinson's disease, says study author Rachel Saunders-Pullman, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx and Beth Israel Medical Center in New York and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.
Parkinson's is a nervous system disorder that occurs when special brain cells that make dopamine, a chemical messenger in the brain, die or become impaired. It leads to trembling and movement problems.
In the study, the researchers analyzed the medical records of 74,000 women who experienced natural menopause and about 7,800 women who went through surgical menopause. Among women with natural menopause, those who had a fertile lifespan of more than 39 years had about a 25-percent lower risk of developing Parkinson's than women with a fertile lifespan of less than 33 years.
Women who had menopause from surgery had almost twice the risk of developing the disease if they had previously taken hormone therapy and stopped than if they had never taken hormone therapy. Taking hormones did not have any effect on natural menopause women.
Author Saunders-Pullman says more research is required to understand why women with four or more pregnancies are at increased risk.
"This study does not support a role for treatment with hormone therapy in preventing Parkinson's, but there are still many unanswered questions," she says.
--By Mary Brophy Marcus, USA TODAY
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I am a 51 year old female that just found out I have Motor Neuron Disease Parkinson's about a year and half, but I have been having signs of it for years, tremors, depression, body weakness. ECT. I honestly don't think my doctor was reading the signs because of my gender and age. A few years ago I had my shoulder lock up on me and I was sent to a P.T since x-rays didn't show any physical damage. My shaking was getting worse and I began falling. Only when my speech became so bad that it brought concern to my dentist was Parkinson's even considered. He phoned my doctor with his concerns about my shaking and balance problems. By this time I was forgoing shots in the back of my neck for back and neck pain to which once again I was sent to a P.T (although x-rays showed no damage) I was told I had a few spurs which were most likely causing the pain. Here I was feeling like my whole body was falling apart and doctor could not find anything wrong, maybe in was all in my head? My doctor even seemed annoyed with me and things just kept progressing and I just kept it to myself, why bother going through testing and them finding nothing? Well, it was after my second P.T called my doctor about the weakness in my legs and arms, by this time I have developed a gait in my walk and I fell more frequently. Only then did my doctor send me to a specialist and it was found that I had Parkinson's, and that I have had it for awhile. I think because I was a woman that my signs and symptoms weren't taken seriously and therefor left untreated for so long,I was taking pramipexole dihydrochloride three times daily, I Was on carbidopa levodopa but only lasted 90 minutes then wore off.I found that none of the current medications worked effective for me.I got tired of using those medication so I decided to apply natural herbs formula that was prescribed to me by my second P.T, i purchase the herbal formula from totalcureherbsfoundation. com, There has been huge progression ever since I start the treatment plan which will last for 15 weeks usage.all the symptoms and sign has begin to disappear .
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