The Effects of Estrogen on the Risk of Developing Dementia: A Cohort Study Using the UK Biobank Data

•What is the primary question addressed by this study? To determine whether more prolonged exposure to estrogen might play a protective role in the development of dementia.•What is the main finding of this study? More prolonged lifetime estrogen exposure was associated with a decreased risk for the development of dementia. A history of reproductive surgery, implicating shorter estrogen exposure, was associated with an increased risk for the development of dementia.•What is the meaning of the finding? Identifying sex-specific risk factors such as estrogen exposure needs to be incorporated into clinical practice for the prevention of dementia