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.

Adult survivors of childhood cancer and unemployment

Adults with a history childhood cancer are more likely than the general population to be unemployed, according to a new review.

23 May 2006

Adult weight gain and histopathologic characteristics of breast cancer among postmenopausal women

According to a new study, women who gain weight in adulthood face a higher lifetime risk of all types of breast cancer even if they do not take hormone replacement therapy after menopause.

23 May 2006

New technique to deliver insulin genes to pancreas

Researchers at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas and the Baylor Research Institute have developed a novel technique to deliver insulin genes to the pancreas, the organ that produces the body's insulin.

23 May 2006

Increased number of twin births could be down to dairy rich diets

According to new research in the U.S., a diet high in dairy products can greatly increase a woman's chances of having twins.

21 May 2006

Plan B - Lancet has a go at the FDA

A well known international medical journal has called on the acting FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach to adopt an independent stance and follow the best judgment of it's expert staff and scientific advisers, even when that means incurring the wrath of patients' groups, industry, Congress, and even the White House.

21 May 2006

Signaling pathways required for expansion of insulin-producing beta cells

IDDM, which used to be referred to as Type 1 diabetes, results from selective destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic islet beta cells by the body's immune system.

17 May 2006

Exercise shown to protect against skin and bowel cancer

Two studies have shown that exercise can protect against skin and bowel cancer, and they have identified new mechanisms that could be responsible for this effect.

17 May 2006

No link found between statins and breast cancer

According to a new study by U.S. researchers, women who use statin drugs to lower their cholesterol are no more likely to develop breast cancer than women who do not use the drugs.

17 May 2006

Low affinity analogs of thyrotropin-releasing hormone are super-agonists

Chemical knockoffs resembling a key thyroid-related hormone are, in certain cases, more effective than the real thing at activating the target receptor.

16 May 2006

Exercise, diet may protect against colorectal cancer

Voluntary exercise and a restricted diet reduced the number and size of pre-cancerous polyps in the intestines of male mice and improved survival, according to a study by a University of Wisconsin-Madison research published in the journal Carcinogenesis.

16 May 2006

Ghrelin involved in development of diabetes

Ghrelin, a hormone long considered a key player in obesity, may instead take a major role in maintaining the balance between insulin and glucose and the development of diabetes, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in a report in the current issue of the journal Cell Metabolism.

11 May 2006

Abortion pill in trouble again

Clostridium sordellii is a rare germ that has killed four women who took the abortion pill RU-486 and has also been implicated in the deaths of at least 11 other women following childbirth or miscarriage.

11 May 2006

Intrauterine device as satisfactory as surgery for treating heavy menstrual bleeding

For women who experience heavy periods, surgery is more effective than oral or intrauterine medication in reducing volume of bleeding at one year, according to a systematic review of studies.

11 May 2006

Long term oestrogen-only hormone replacement therapy increases breast cancer risk

According to new research women who take oestrogen-only hormone replacement therapy for 20 years or longer to treat the symptoms of menopause, put themselves at greater risk of developing breast cancer.

10 May 2006

Gene "CGI-58" linked to rare disease activates fat breakdown

A gene earlier linked to a rare disease plays a critical role in the body's "finely tuned balance" of fat storage and break down, new evidence reported in the May Cell Metabolism reveals.

10 May 2006

New insulin-production method holds promise for diabetics

A University of Houston professor and his student have made a major discovery in the field of diabetes research and diagnosis, finding a new mechanism for the formation of insulin crystals in the pancreas.

9 May 2006

Long-term estrogen therapy may be related to a higher risk of breast cancer

Previous studies have linked the use of hormone therapy to breast cancer among postmenopausal women, but have primarily focused on the hormone combination of estrogen plus progestin, according to background information in the article.

9 May 2006

Social stress prompts hamsters to overeat

Put a mouse or a rat under stress and what does it do? It stops eating. Humans should be so lucky. When people suffer nontraumatic stress they often head for the refrigerator, producing unhealthy extra pounds.

9 May 2006

Novel protein JHDM2A offers new look at male hormone regulation

For the second time in less than a year, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill scientists have purified a novel protein and have shown it can alter gene activity by reversing a molecular modification previously thought permanent.

8 May 2006

Discovery of gene that appears to play an important role in the onset of type 2 diabetes

In a painstaking set of experiments in overweight mice, scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered a gene that appears to play an important role in the onset of type 2 diabetes.

8 May 2006