Adding further controversy to the debate over the use of hormone replacement therapy, researchers announced this week that long-term treatment may decrease a woman's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Scientists with the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health System in Washington, John Hopkins University, Duke University and Banner Health System in Arizona examined nearly 2,000 women living in Cache County, Utah over a three-year period, determining through statistical modeling that estrogen use for 10 years or more may reduce a woman's risk of Alzheimer's by one-half.

Researchers involved in the study, however, warn that the results are merely "suggestive" and "insufficient to recommend hormone therapy for prevention of Alzheimer's disease." The study, published in today's issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association, contradicts a report published last month by the American Psychological Association that stated postmenopausal women who suffer from Alzheimer's disease may worsen their memory loss by undergoing estrogen replacement therapy.