Motherhood and a later menopause can reduce women’s risk of developing dementia, research claims

Maternity and subsequent menopause can reduce the risk of developing dementia in women.

According to a survey of more than half a million people, a childless woman is 18% more likely to be diagnosed with dementia than a mother of two.

A 47-year-old naturally menopausal woman is 32% more likely to develop dementia than a 50-year-old woman.

Pregnancy and longer pregnancy years before menopause can expose a woman to more estrogen throughout her life, helping to prevent dementia.

Having the right levels in the body, the hormone can help protect the brain.

This may explain another finding that women who have used birth control pills are 20% less likely to develop dementia.

The pill that changes hormone levels can also be good for the brain.

The researchers looked at around 273,000 women and 229,000 men aged 40 to 69 from the UK who were followed for an average of 12 years to see if they developed dementia.

The study aimed to look specifically at women, who are more likely than men to have dementia and account for two-thirds of dementia deaths.

The researchers looked at the role of ‘reproductive factors’ such as age when they hit menopause, have a baby or hit puberty.

Jessica Gong, who led the research at the George Institute for Global Health in Australia, said: “Although the risk of developing dementia increases with age, we still don’t know if the higher rates seen in women are due to the simple reason that they live longer.

“But it’s possible that female-specific reproductive factors may explain some of the sex differences.”

Early onset of puberty was linked to a reduced risk of developing dementia, the study results found.

A woman who reported having her first period after age 14 was almost one-fifth more likely to develop dementia than a woman who was 13.

This may be because of the estrogen needed to produce an egg each month after puberty.

Starting this monthly cycle earlier could mean a longer lifetime of estrogen exposure with potential beneficial effects on the brain.

This may be why women who go through menopause at age 47 have a higher risk of dementia than women who go through menopause at age 50.

Women go through menopause, on average, between the ages of 45 and 55, and each year they may need to have more estrogen to protect their brains.

Among those analyzed by researchers who were part of the UK Biobank study, 1,866 women and 2,202 men developed dementia.

Women who were pregnant were 15% less likely to develop dementia than those who were never pregnant.

But the equally low risk in men with children suggests that this finding is not just about hormones in the body.

Having a family can help keep parents’ brains active and prevent dementia.

However, the findings suggest that you can have a lot of good stuff as much larger families are linked to a greater risk of dementia.

Women with four children were 14% more likely to develop dementia than women with only two children.

Men with four children were 26% more likely to develop dementia than men with two children.

The study authors suggest that too many children can lead to stress and financial distress, which is not good for their brain health.

The study, published in the journal PLOS Medicine, found no association between women taking HRT and dementia, despite this estrogen boost in the body.

Having a hysterectomy, especially if a woman’s ovaries were also removed, was associated with an increased risk of developing or dying from dementia, although this was an important factor only for women in poorer socioeconomic groups.

The study findings are based on women who reported that they may not be able to accurately remember life events such as puberty and menopause.

But it does show that hormones and life events can reduce people’s risk of dementia, and that having children can be good for both men and women.