Hormone News and Research

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A hormone is a chemical released by one or more cells that affects cells in other parts of the organism. Only a small amount of hormone is required to alter cell metabolism. It is essentially a chemical messenger that transports a signal from one cell to another.

Reducing inflammation plays key role in type 1 diabetes therapy

Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have found that a triple combination therapy consisting of both tolerance-inducing and anti-inflammatory properties is successful in abolishing adverse autoimmunity against insulin-producing cells in a mouse model of Type 1 diabetes.

1 Aug 2007

New way to predict how cells will respond to targeted drug therapies

Models based on this approach could help doctors make better treatment choices for individual patients, who often respond differently to the same drug, and could help drug developers identify the ideal compounds on which to focus their research.

1 Aug 2007

Discovery of pathway that controls cell size and division

Organisms precisely regulate cell size to ensure that daughter cells have sufficient cellular material to thrive or to create specific cell types: a tiny sperm versus a gargantuan egg for example.

1 Aug 2007

Obese patients get patchy weight-loss support from their local health surgery

Only one in seven UK doctors’ surgeries provide well-developed support programmes for obese patients, according to a survey of primary care nurses published in the latest Journal of Advanced Nursing.

1 Aug 2007

Goats' milk healthier than cows' milk

Research carried out at the Department of Physiology of the University of Granada has revealed that goats milk has more beneficial properties to health than cows milk.

1 Aug 2007

Insulin produced in genetically modified lettuce relieves diabetes in mice

Capsules of insulin produced in genetically modified lettuce could hold the key to restoring the body's ability to produce insulin and help millions of Americans who suffer from insulin-dependent diabetes, according to University of Central Florida biomedical researchers.

1 Aug 2007

New oral contraceptive means 365 period free days a year

Women in the United States can now access the first low-dose combination contraceptive pill which stops their periods.

31 Jul 2007

Contraceptive sponge making a comeback

The contraceptive sponge initially launched in 1983 is now making a comeback ten years down the line.

31 Jul 2007

Avandia too risky says expert

One of the members of the advisory panel set up to discuss the future of the diabetes pill Avandia says it should be removed from the market because it is too risky and offers no advantage over other alternatives.

30 Jul 2007

Sexual problems of long-term cancer survivors merit more attention

The first study to look at sexual function in very long-term female survivors of genital-tract cancer found that these women were pleased with the quality of their cancer care but less satisfied with the emotional support and information they received about dealing with the effects of the disease and treatment on sexuality.

27 Jul 2007

Women more prone to brain damage from alcohol abuse than men

Alcoholism has traditionally been considered a male disease because there are many more alcoholic males than females.

27 Jul 2007

New understanding of Sly Syndrome

The scientist who discovered “Sly Syndrome” nearly four decades ago and a team of colleagues at Saint Louis University are a step closer to finding an approach to treat the rare genetic disease.

26 Jul 2007

Court rules in favor of Sandoz on Toprol Xl patent

Sandoz was pleased to learn this week that the U.S. Court of Appeals in St. Louis has affirmed a summary judgment by U.S. District Judge Rodney Sippel invalidating patent protection on Toprol XL(R), a beta blocker used to treat angina, heart failure, and high blood pressure.

26 Jul 2007

Researchers improve accuracy of thyroid hormone testing

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have developed a fast and accurate way to measure a major hormone released by the thyroid gland--an advance they say may help in the treatment of many women who have overactive or underactive thyroid glands.

26 Jul 2007

Implantable contraceptives are extremely effective

Although the devices are barely used in developed countries and only a bit more popular elsewhere, a new review of research suggests that implantable contraceptives are extremely effective.

25 Jul 2007

Link between breast cancer and hormone therapy confirmed

A sharp drop in breast cancer rates from 2003 to 2004 is linked to an even larger drop in women's use of hormone therapy that began around 2000, according to a Kaiser Permanente study in the August 1, 2007, issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that confirms the connection between breast cancer, hormone therapy and mammography screening over the past 25 years.

25 Jul 2007

FDA advisory committee recommends that FDA wait for overall survival results from Satraplatin phase 3 trial

GPC Biotech AG has announced that the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended (12-0) that the FDA should wait for the final survival analysis of the SPARC trial before deciding whether the satraplatin application is approvable for the treatment of hormone-refractory prostate cancer patients whose prior chemotherapy has failed.

25 Jul 2007

Breast cancer and HRT

The medical community has been debating for many years whether, and to what extent, postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT) use is associated with a higher risk of breast cancer, says Professor Amos Pines, President of the International Menopause Society.

25 Jul 2007

FDA panel will help decide fate of drug Evista for preventing breast cancer

Before the osteoporosis drug Evista is approved for breast cancer in the U.S. the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will take the advice of an advisory panel.

23 Jul 2007

Arius begins toxicology program for lead anti-cancer antibody

ARIUS Research Inc has announced that the Company has initiated the first study in the formal pre-clinical toxicology program for its lead anti-CD44 drug candidate, which is under development for the treatment of breast, prostate and liver cancers.

23 Jul 2007