Despite widespread belief that sex hormones are important to women's brain health, little work has considered how these hormones in women relate to white matter hyperintensities, a major indicator of cerebral small vessel disease. Dr. Thurston's team considered relations of estradiol, estrone, and follicle-stimulating hormone to white matter hyperintensities in midlife women. She found that reproductive hormones, particularly estradiol and follicle-stimulating hormone, are important to women's cerebrovascular health.
Reproductive hormones in relation to white matter hyperintensity volumes among midlife women
