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 oral blood thinner

A new oral blood thinner is being compared to an old standby to see if it works as well and is easier to manage long term, researchers say.

13 Feb 2007

New breast cancer drug Exemestane shows great potential to save lives

In what will be welcome news to millions of women suffering from breast cancer, trials of a new drug have found it lowers oestrogen levels in women with hormone-sensitive breast cancer and has the potential to save more than 1,000 lives a year in the UK alone.

13 Feb 2007

Breast cancer survival rates improved by novel drug sequence

Changing the way women are treated for breast cancer could improve their overall chance of survival, according to research published in the Lancet.

13 Feb 2007

Women who donate eggs for stem cell research face few health risks

Women who donate their eggs for stem cell research or in vitro fertilization are not at increased risk of health complications, and most of the risks are a result of the hormones used to stimulate their bodies to release more than one egg, according to a report commissioned by the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine and released by the Institute of Medicine, Bloomberg reports.

13 Feb 2007

Siestas good for your heart!

Siestas could be the latest way of avoiding stress and protecting the heart from disease.

12 Feb 2007

Determinants of disease presentation and outcome during cryptococcosis

CRNS and the Institut Pasteur conducted research in France on patients diagnosed with cryptococcosis which ranks second among fatal opportunistic infections in patients infected by HIV and who are profoundly immunosuppressed.

12 Feb 2007

Mood changes in response to psychosocial stress in healthy young women: effects of pretreatment with Cortisol

German researchers have found additional evidence that the stress hormone cortisol can have positive effects in certain situations.

12 Feb 2007

Switching to an aromatase inhibitor provides mortality benefit in early breast carcinoma

For breast cancer patients taking tamoxifen, switching to an aromatase inhibitor within three years significantly improves survival rates, according to a new study.

12 Feb 2007

New diagnostic technology for routine prenatal genetic testing

Research studies demonstrating the viability of an approach to routinely detect the presence of fetal DNA in a mother's blood to accurately diagnose or rule out genetic defects -- as early as the first trimester -- was presented today at the 27th Annual Meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine being held in San Francisco.

11 Feb 2007

Sniff of male sweat kick starts female hormones

According to a new study all a healthy heterosexual woman needs to give their hormone levels a kick start is the smell of a man's sweat.

8 Feb 2007

Minority women less aware of heart disease than white women

U.S. minority women are less aware than white women of their risk for heart problems and stroke, although they are at an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, according to a study published in the January/February issue of the Journal of Women's Health, Reuters reports.

7 Feb 2007

Risk of developing diabetes increasingly involved in decisions regarding HRT

Although doctors for years have "talked about the health effects of hormones on bones, breasts and women's hearts," diabetes has not been "part of the debate" until last week, when the North American Menopause Society in a revised position statement said that women taking hormone replacement therapy appear to be less likely to develop the disease, the Wall Street Journal reports.

7 Feb 2007

Ban called for on newer birth control pills

The advocacy group Public Citizen has filed a petition with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) demanding that the sale of some of the newer birth control pills be banned.

6 Feb 2007

Britain to debate availability of HRT and the pill over the counter

The organisation in the UK which regulates drugs and treatments, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is to hold a seminar in London as part of a campaign to improve women's health.

6 Feb 2007

Alphanate approved to treat Von Willebrand disease

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced the approval of Antihemophilic Factor/von Willebrand Factor Complex (Human), Alphanate.

4 Feb 2007

Tea tree and lavender oils may cause enlarged breasts in boys

According to new research the use of shampoos, soaps and lotions which contain lavender oil and tea tree oils can cause some boys to develop enlarged breasts.

1 Feb 2007

Discovery of pancreatic cancer stem cells could lead to more effective therapies

Scientists in the United States have identified for the first time the stem cells linked to pancreatic cancer.

1 Feb 2007

Natural fibre may help overweight achieve a healthy body weight

It sounds almost too good to be true, but Dr. Raylene Reimer, a researcher at the University of Calgary, Faculty of Kinesiology, believes she may have found an important weapon in the war against obesity.

31 Jan 2007

Cruelty-free ELISA for human insulin

In the January issue of Clinical Biochemistry, scientists and physicians with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) outline the method used to develop a cruelty-free ELISA for human insulin that uses monoclonal antibodies produced by cells cultured in an animal-serum-free medium.

30 Jan 2007

Aromatase inhibitors for treatment of advanced breast cancer in postmenopausal women

Aromatase inhibitors, a type of hormone therapy used to treat advanced breast cancer in postmenopausal women, result in a small but significant increase in overall survival when compared to other hormone treatments, according to a new systematic review of studies.

30 Jan 2007