Postmenopausal women see less biological ageing with hormone therapy

A new study has shown that postmenopausal women who use hormone therapy see less biological ageing than those who do not use hormone therapy.

The research team explores the association between hormone therapy use and differences in both biological and chronological age in postmenopausal women.

Th study was a population-based, retrospective cohort study that included postmenopausal women registered in the UK Biobank. The paper states that a baseline survey on Hormone Therapy use and biological ageing biomarkers was conducted from March 2006 to October 2010 and data analyses were conducted in December 2023.

The results revealed that hormone therapy use was associated with less biological ageing compared to those who did not use hormone therapy, and that the effect was more prevalent in women who began their therapy aged 55 or above and for a period of four to eight years.

The team also looked at the role socioeconomic status (SES) played.

The researchers wrote: “The association between Hormone Therapy and a smaller aging discrepancy was more evident in women with low SES, with a significant interaction observed for education.

“Phenotypic ageing discrepancy mediated 12.7 per cent of the association between HT and all-cause mortality and cause-specific mortality.”

The researchers concluded that promoting the use of hormone therapy could be important for healthy ageing.

They wrote: “In this study, postmenopausal women with historical Hormone Therapy use were biologically younger than those not receiving Hormone Therapy, with a more evident association observed in those with low SES. The biological aging discrepancy mediated the association between HT and decreased mortality.

“Promoting HT in postmenopausal women could be important for healthy ageing.”