A study reported in the media this week has understandably worried a lot of women, so I wanted to unpick what it actually showed, and what it didn’t. The researchers looked at large numbers of menopausal women’s records and found that grey matter in their brains reduces in areas linked to memory, coordination and spatial awareness. That research is not new. We’ve known for years that progesterone, estradiol and testosterone are important for brain function, and menopause is a risk factor for dem