As we get older, so many of us notice little changes in our memory: forgetting a name, losing a word mid-sentence, rereading the same paragraph three times. It’s easy to write that off as a normal part of aging. After this conversation, I’m not so sure we should.
In this episode of The Art of Aging, Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl, professor of neurology at UCLA and founding neurologist of UCLA’s Comprehensive Menopause Program, explains how women’s brains change after menopause, and why losing estrogen affects so much more than hot flashes. She makes a distinction I’d never heard before: what we call “brain fog” is really two different things, and only one of them goes away on its own. And with two-thirds of Alzheimer’s patients being women, she believes understanding why could change how we protect our brains.
We also got practical: what kind of exercise actually helps your brain, which brain games are worth your time, how much alcohol is too much, and what genetic and blood tests can (and can’t) tell you about your Alzheimer’s risk. We also talked about why research on women’s brains has lagged so far behind, and what she thinks the next generation of hormone therapy should look like.
Her message stuck with me: if you feel like you’re not as sharp as you used to be, trust your gut, and don’t accept it as just part of getting older.
Thank you to our presenting sponsor, Procter & Gamble, along with Crest Pro-Health and Oral-B, for making this conversation possible.
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