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.

Good diet + exercise = less insulin in the brain and a longer life!

Scientists in the U.S. say reducing the action of insulin in the brain could well be the secret to longevity.

22 Jul 2007

Protein kinase G holds promise for cancer treatment

An enzyme that cancer cells eliminate, apparently so they can keep proliferating, may hold clues to more targeted, effective cancer treatment, scientists say.

19 Jul 2007

Plumber protein uses different tools to turn on genes

St. Jude investigators have discovered how a single molecular "on switch" triggers gene activity that might cause effects ranging from learning and memory capabilities to glucose production in the liver.

18 Jul 2007

Genetic variation linked to premenstrual depression

A specific genetic variation may be tied to an increased risk for severe premenstrual depression, scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the National Institute of Mental Health have found.

18 Jul 2007

Nastech Pharmaceutical Co. issued patents for parathyroid hormone nasal spray for treatment of osteoporosis

Nastech Pharmaceutical Company Inc. has announced the issuance of two U.S. patents by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

18 Jul 2007

Growth hormone for idiopathic short stature in children and adolescents

Growth hormone injections appear to boost height in extremely short, healthy children, according to a recent systematic review, but height gain appears to peak at about three inches - and those inches are expensive.

18 Jul 2007

Obesity and asthma often go together

Scientists in Britain say they have discovered a link between obesity and asthma and they believe the connection may explain why overweight people are up to twice as likely to develop the respiratory condition.

17 Jul 2007

Grapefruit linked to increased risk for breast cancer

It seems unlikely but researchers in the United States say they have found that eating too much grapefruit could increase the risk of breast cancer.

17 Jul 2007

Analysis of diabetes drugs

Most oral medications prescribed for type 2 diabetes are similarly effective for reducing blood glucose, but the drug metformin is less likely to cause weight gain and may be more likely than other treatments to decrease so-called bad cholesterol, according to a report funded by HHS Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

17 Jul 2007

Insulin resistance in skeletal muscle can be countered through exercise

Abdominal fat, the spare tire that many of us carry, has long been implicated as a primary suspect in causing the metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that includes the most dangerous heart attack risk factors: prediabetes, diabetes, high blood pressure, and changes in cholesterol.

17 Jul 2007

A suntan is the body's best effort to fend off ultraviolet light

For years, the official word on tanning has been … don't. Health organizations have driven home the message that the sun exposure needed to get a tan increases your chances of getting skin cancer.

16 Jul 2007

Children with Tourette's better at mental grammar skills

Children with Tourette's syndrome may have to put up with some unwanted movement and verbal tics, but neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center and the Kennedy Krieger Institute have found that they are much quicker at processing certain mental grammar skills than are children without the disorder.

16 Jul 2007

Discovery of one important function of junk DNA

Scientists have only recently begun to speculate that what's referred to as junk DNA , the 96 percent of the human genome that doesn't encode for proteins and previously seemed to have no useful purpose , is present in the genome for an important reason.

13 Jul 2007

Things that can trigger heart attacks, strokes and cardiac arrests

Heart attacks, strokes, and cardiac arrests seem like they come out of the blue, but most don't.

13 Jul 2007

Chemotherapy may benefit all women with a BRCA1 mutation

Breast cancer patients who possess one of the so-called "breast cancer" or BRCA genetic mutations do not have a higher risk of dying than patients with no BRCA mutations, according to a detailed study by researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and the University of Toronto.

12 Jul 2007

For older women HRT a risky option

According to an international study older women should not take Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT).

12 Jul 2007

No benefit from HRT for older women

New evidence confirms that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) should not be prescribed to older women who are many years past the menopause. The treatment will not help prevent chronic conditions such as heart disease in these women.

11 Jul 2007

Kids who prefer evenings are more likely to exhibit antisocial behavior

A propensity for activities in the evening rather than in the morning may offer clues to behavioral problems in early adolescence, according to psychologists who have found that kids who prefer evenings are more likely to exhibit antisocial behavior, rule-breaking, and attention problems.

11 Jul 2007

Adiponectin serves as energy-conserving signal to the brain

A fat-derived protein known for its effects on the liver and skeletal muscle might also serve as an energy-conserving signal to the brain during periods of starvation, suggests a new study in the July issue of Cell Metabolism, a publication of Cell Press.

11 Jul 2007

Incretin-based therapy offers alternative option for treating type 2 diabetes

A review of previous studies indicates that use of a class of medications known as “incretin-based therapy”, which act via certain pathways that affect glucose metabolism may provide modest effectiveness and favorable weight change outcomes for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and may represent an alternative to other hypoglycemic therapies.

11 Jul 2007