"Post-menopausal women are two to three times more likely than men to get Alzheimer's disease," said Meharvan "Sonny" Singh, PhD, chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience at the UNT Health Science Center.  "Hormones have been proven to be good for the brain if the right type is administered in the right way."

Hormone therapy was called into question after the results from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study were publicized, beginning in 2002. The study was halted after four years when it was determined to be dangerous. Singh and other experts, however, contend that without considering the age of the women, the type of hormone and the regimen of hormone therapy, the results of the WHI fall short of providing evidence that hormones are altogether bad.

"We need to leave no stone unturned in finding treatments and a cure for Alzheimer's," said Singh. "And hormone treatments may be one of our best bets. But first, we have to understand how hormones  -- progesterone, testosterone and estrogen - affect bone, heart and brain health, as well as sexual health."

Singh's research was recently featured on NBC 5.

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