Whether you call it brain fog or memory loss, a new study reveals that it is a real thing and that it is more than just another ploy for medications in menopausal women. In a research study that will be published in the journal, Menopause, researchers discovered a link between a change in cognition and a number of menopausal symptoms in women. Those changes are said to occur in women who are getting ready to enter menopause or are in the first stages of it.

Lead researcher and the study's author, Miriam Weber, PhD., a neuropsychologist said that these symptoms of memory loss should never be just brushed off or ignored bu either the patient or the doctor. For many women, the most common symptoms of menopause are discounted and ridiculed and the brain fog is typically attributed to nothing more than the aging process, but according to Weber, that may not be the actual case.

The study, performed by the University of Rochester Medical Center researchers, analyzed a number of physical symptoms as well as the brain functions of women between the ages of forty and sixty. In addition to blood tests to check hormone levels, the women were given a number of brain function tests to assess their ability to learn and retain new information, to sustain attention during difficult or boring tasks and to manipulate certain information. The women were also asked about other typical menopause symptoms such as hot flashes, insomnia and depression.

The researchers found that for most of the women, those who had at least one of the physical symptoms were more likely to have the problem with their memory which is commonly referred to as brain fog. The women described the problem as slightly annoying to mildly troubling but none were reported to have serious cognitive issues, nor does this brain fog likely increase their risk for problems in their later years. Critics of the study have suggested that future dementia and progressing memory loss could not be ruled out.

Others question the need for the study with some suggesting that it was nothing more than the big pharmaceutical companies working toward a new drug to improve memory or to refocus attention during menopause.Some cautioned that telling the doctors about this brain fog now could qualify as an existing condition when applying for certain types of health care coverage later. But, for the women affected by this condition, it was a welcome relief to learn that they are not alone and that they are perfectly normal.