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Some cognitive decline, particularly in the domains of executive functions, is common among menopausal women. A new study has examined the effect of the psychostimulant lisdexamfetamine (LDX) on subjective and objective cognitive function among menopausal women who report new-onset executive function complaints [1]. LDX is a very popular medication indicated for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). Thirty-two healthy perimenopausal and early postmenopausal women experiencing mid-life-onset executive function difficulties, as measured using the Brown Attention Deficit Disorder Scale (BADDS), were administered LDX 40–60 mg/day for 4 weeks in this double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study. Diagnosis of lifetime ADHD was exclusionary. BADDS total and subscale scores and performance on verbal memory and working memory tasks were outcomes of interest. Analyses revealed a significant effect of LDX treatment over placebo for total BADDS scores (p = 0.0001) and for four out of the five BADDS subscales (all p < 0.004). LDX treatment also resulted in significant improvement in delayed paragraph recall (p = 0.018), but there was no significant effect of treatment on other cognitive measures. Systolic blood pressure (p = 0.017) and heart rate increased significantly (p = 0.006) when women were on LDX but remained, on average, within the normal range. Treatment was well tolerated and improved the subjective measures of executive function as well as objective measures of delayed verbal recall in this sample of healthy menopausal women. The above study results raise several questions: (1) could some of the classical adult ADHD symptoms be related to reciprocal menopausal complaints? (2) Should we use psychostimulants as a therapeutic mode for certain menopausal ill outcomes, especially within the cognitive domains?

Author(s)

  • Amos Pines

    Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel

Citations

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