The right hormones can & do reduce dementia risk & progression.

Studies with oral horse estrogen's plus the progestin MPA were interpreted to show increases in dementia with hormone therapy, to everyone's surprise, given that estrogen, by it's scientifically revealed nature should protect the brain instead of damaging it. But here once again the oral route was the real problem rather than the use of estrogen per se.That's because using oral horse estrogen's triggers a reduction in brain estrogen levels instead of an increase in them.  It does this by binding up more estrogen in the blood, so that both estrogen & testosterone have difficulty entering the brain.  Because oral equine estrogen's reduce brain estrogen levels, of course they increase dementia risk, especially when accompanied by MPA as they were in the WHIMS.  But that means that doing the opposite, increasing brain levels of estradiol and testosterone should actually reduce instead of increasing dementia risk, proving that science is right and the bean counters are wrong, particularly when they don't bother to know their scientific beans. Modern, non-oral estrogen's, when precisely dosed  & delivered in a steady manner devoid of estrogen withdrawal, protect the brain & prevent/reverse dementia, particularly when accompanied by measures to increase testosterone levels & reduce excessive cortisol levels.  Use of the wrong progestins may however block this benefit, so once again, expertise is critical in your health provider.