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.

Increased risk of urinary incontinence with hormone therapy

Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT), consisting of oral estrogen plus progestin or estrogen alone, considered in the past as treatment for urinary incontinenc, was until recently, credited with many benefits well beyond the indications for symptomatic relief of hot flashes, night sweats, and vaginal dryness. One of the benefits of MHT was to improve the symptoms of urinary incontinence (UI), and it has often been prescribed to treat UI.

21 Feb 2005

Female sex hormones have a profound effect on susceptibility to the herpes simplex virus

Two McMaster University studies, to be published in the Journal of Virology, show that sex hormones have a profound effect on susceptibility of female mice to the herpes simplex virus, type 2 (HSV-2 ), one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases.

21 Feb 2005

Are hormone therapy drugs safe?

The history of hormone therapy drugs – once thought of as almost magic pills to keep women healthy, vital and young – shows why it is so important to conduct research studies to identify the risks and benefits of drugs, say researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

17 Feb 2005

When does occasional absentmindedness signal the start of memory decline?

Forgetfulness is something everyone experiences at one time or another, but at what point does it indicate the beginning of a serious memory loss?

17 Feb 2005

GenoMed files gene patents

GenoMed has filed a patent application on two additional genes linked to common cancers. These genes are the third and fourth identified as a result of GenoMed's research in 2005 to date. They have the potential to improve the outcomes for those individuals afflicted with these cancers.

16 Feb 2005

Changing chemistry helps explain estrogen threat to the heart

A piece of the topical puzzle of how estrogen goes from protecting women from heart disease to apparently increasing their risk later in life may have been found.

16 Feb 2005

Under-active thyroid associated with reduced breast cancer risk

Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have found that women with a common thyroid gland disorder appear to have a reduced chance of developing invasive breast cancer, according to a study published in the March 15 issue of Cancer, out online Feb. 14.

14 Feb 2005

Why estrogenic hormones produce unintended results in women

New research is shedding light on why estrogenic hormones produce unintended results in women, giving hope to the idea that new drugs might reach their targets and work more effectively. Ultimately it could mean that postmenopausal women would know that hormone-replacement therapy would have only its intended result.

13 Feb 2005

Scientists show knocking out key signals will cause diabetes

Using a revolutionary technique to turn off chemical signals inside the cell, scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center have discovered that the different metabolic abnormalities present in type 2 diabetes can be caused by knocking out two key signals in liver cells.

11 Feb 2005

Testosterone spray improves younger women's sexual enjoyment and satisfaction

Improved sexual satisfaction for women could be just a spray on the skin away, according to the results of clinical trials led by a Monash University research team.

10 Feb 2005

Sudden emotional stress can result in severe but reversible heart muscle weakness

Shocking news, such as learning of the unexpected death of a loved one, has been known to cause catastrophic events, such as a heart attack.

10 Feb 2005

Sex hormone progesterone metabolite allopregnanolone reduces stress

A steroid hormone released during the metabolism of progesterone, the female sex hormone, reduces the brain's response to stress, according to research in rats by scientists at Emory University School of Medicine, the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Atlanta's Center for Behavioral Neuroscience.

9 Feb 2005

Short girls with underlying disease are not being diagnosed

Twice as many boys as girls are referred to medical specialists for evaluation of short stature or poor growth, according to a new study.

7 Feb 2005

What causes puberty to begin?

Puberty, that awkward phase when boys and girls are primed for their sexual reproductive years as men and women, appears to be triggered by the brain's own version of "It takes two to tango," whereby a signal literally gets turned on by a molecule that is produced by a gene aptly named KiSS-1.

31 Jan 2005

Bioartificial kidney containing billions of donor kidney cells under study at the Medical College of Georgia

Whether a bioartificial kidney containing billions of donor kidney cells will help intensive care patients with kidney failure survive is under study at the Medical College of Georgia.

31 Jan 2005

Relationship between weight gain and breast cancer survival

Women who are overweight prior to breast cancer diagnosis, or who are lean but gain weight following diagnosis, are more likely to have their disease return or die of the disease, a new study shows. This effect was found to be particularly pronounced among women who had never smoked. The study is published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO).

31 Jan 2005

Nearly 10,000 preterm births could have been prevented in 2002

Nearly 10,000 preterm births could have been prevented in 2002 if all pregnant women at high risk for a premature baby and eligible for weekly injections of a derivative of the hormone progesterone had received them, according to a new study published in the February issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

31 Jan 2005