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.

New breast cancer treatment may dispense with the need for chemotherapy

According to the latest research new hormone therapy drugs designed to treat breast cancer may dispense with the need for chemotherapy thus avoiding the nasty side effects associated with the treatment.

21 May 2007

Hormone treatment could cut need for chemo in some younger breast cancer patients

Around 5,500 pre-menopausal breast cancer patients could be offered a hormone drug that is shown to be as effective as traditional chemotherapy - and so avoid potential infertility and long-term menopausal side effects - according to a Cancer Research UK report published in The Lancet.

20 May 2007

Glucose plays a key role in enabling healthy beta cells

A key aspect of how embryos create the cells which secrete insulin is revealed in a new study published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

18 May 2007

Health effects of isoflavones and breast cancer

Are soy products healthy additions to a person's diet, safe alternatives to hormone-replacement therapy or cancer-causing agents" The answer, according to University of Illinois food science and human nutrition professor William Helferich, is, "It depends."

17 May 2007

Merits and risks of postmenopausal hormone therapy

The study was categorized as a primary prevention trial for coronary heart disease, although the fact that mean age at recruitment was 63 years was not given enough importance at that time. WHI investigators concluded that hormone therapy (HT) was not cardioprotective, and, in fact, its riskbenefit ratio did not favor the use of postmenopausal hormones for prevention of chronic diseases.

17 May 2007

Herpes infection may be symbiotic

Mice with chronic herpes virus infections can better resist the bacterium that causes plague and a bacterium that causes one kind of food poisoning, researchers report in Nature.

17 May 2007

Promoter hypermethylation is common in breast cancer

Cancer epidemiologists at the University at Buffalo have identified specific genes that are most likely to become cancer promoters when exposed to a process called DNA promoter hypermethylation.

17 May 2007

Virtual Iraq provides better understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder

Weill Cornell Medical College researchers are using a virtual reality simulation called "Virtual Iraq" to better understand how symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) develop.

17 May 2007

Possible neuroprotective effect of testosterone treatment in men

A small pilot study suggests that testosterone treatment is safe, well tolerated and may reduce symptoms, slow brain degeneration and increase muscle mass in men with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, the most common form of the disease, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

17 May 2007

Wyeth wins HRT trial

Wyeth has announced that the jury in the case of Merle and Steven Simon v. Wyeth, in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, found in favor of Wyeth.

16 May 2007

Early trauma can have life-long consequences

Young survivors of the holocaust have often been told from their early years that they 'survived the war well' and that 'they are lucky not to be able to remember that awful time.'

16 May 2007

Testosterone gel helps men multiple sclerosis

Close on the heels of a large-scale clinical trial just underway to confirm that the female hormone estriol combats the effects of multiple sclerosis (MS) in women, a just completed pilot study at UCLA now shows promise for the use of testosterone to combat its effects in men.

16 May 2007

Hormones in children's saliva may indicate trauma from bullying

Hormones in children's saliva may be a biological indicator of the trauma kids undergo when they are chronically bullied by peers, according to researchers who say biological markers can aid in the early recognition and intervention of long-term psychological effects on youth.

16 May 2007

Reducing cardiovascular disease risk factors when discontinuing HRT

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has been shown to reduce many cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, but many women have stopped using HRT due to reports from the Women's Health Initiative that HRT may increase the risk of breast cancer and heart disease.

16 May 2007

New blood pressure drug derived from sea creature promises to save millions of lives

Scientists in Britain say they have developed a new vaccine for people suffering from hypertension; they say the vaccine will control blood pressure and has the potential to save millions of lives.

15 May 2007

Specific genes identified that are most likely to become cancer promoters when exposed to DNA promoter hypermethylation

Hypermethylation is a process that causes genes that promote normal cell growth to produce proteins that cause malignant behavior, or unregulated cell growth. Until now, data has been very limited regarding the mechanism and causes of hypermethylation, especially for hypermethylation in breast cancer.

15 May 2007

Female reproductive function is influenced by childhood environment

This suggests there is a critical window of time from about 0-8 years of age that determines the rate at which girls physically mature and how high their reproductive hormone levels reach as adults.

15 May 2007

Better care for baby boomers

As the first wave of "want to be forever young" baby boomers turns 60, Saint Louis University is creating a new center for research, education and clinical care to help them reach their goal.

15 May 2007

Epidemiology of obesity, pathophysiology, associated disease and management

Due to the gastrointestinal tract's role in body weight regulation, gastroenterologists should work closely with other medical disciplines to oversee and coordinate the care of obese individuals, according to an American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute Obesity Task Force Report.

15 May 2007

FDA Panel warns anemia drug dangerous for cancer patients

A panel of experts advising the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States has warned that the popular anemia drug erythropoietin may not be as safe as first thought.

14 May 2007