What should I consider before going on hormone replacement therapy?

Hormone therapy is not indicated for cognitive problems and it’s not indicated for the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. So what are the effects of hormone therapy on cognitive function, and perhaps even later risk of Alzheimer’s for women who are using the hormone therapy for the main purpose? That main purpose is to treat hot flashes, since 80 percent of women experience hot flashes as they transition through menopause. For many women, these are very disruptive and they also disrupt sleep because women wake up in what’s called a night sweat. When we think about the timing of initiation of hormone therapy, we want to think about the timing of initiation in relation to those specific symptoms.