Glucocorticoid is a compound that belongs to the family of compounds called corticosteroids (steroids). Glucocorticoids affect metabolism and have anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects. They may be naturally produced (hormones) or synthetic (drugs).
What creates that irresistible urge for a bag of potato chips or a hunk of chocolate cake, as opposed to a nice crisp apple? Can food urges be irresistible?
Genelabs Technologies has announced that it has reached agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) for a Phase III clinical trial of Prestara (prasterone) for treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus).
According to researchers in the U.S. children who suffer severe stress may also suffer damage to their brains.
There is no clear benefit from a hormone commonly prescribed to enhance the effectiveness of infertility treatments, according to a new review of studies.
Experts in the United States say the results of a study with mice suggests that stress in itself may cause anxiety and depression.
Neuroscientists at Harvard Medical School and its affiliate McLean Hospital have shown that long-term exposure to stress hormone in mice directly results in the anxiety that often comes with depression.
Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have revealed that the cortisol/obesity connection, touted by many weight-loss supplement marketers, may be even more tenuous than first thought.
In a small study from a referral center for dermatology, most patients receiving prolonged oral corticosteroids for chronic skin diseases were not receiving therapies to prevent osteoporosis that may be caused by the drug, according to an article in the January issue of Archives of Dermatology.
Researchers at the Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Disease Center and the Division of Gastroenterology at Loyola University Health System are studying a once-yearly, 15-minute infusion of an intravenous (IV) medication in patients with osteopenia (low bone mass) and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) that, if proven effective, may be considered the standard of treatment.
"It's generally understood that females respond more strongly to acute (immediate, short-term) stress than males," said Helmer Figueiredo, PhD, of UC's department of psychiatry. "Our research shows that this may also be the case in more clinically relevant chronic-stress conditions."
Researchers from the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found that eating or drinking sweets may decrease the production of the stress-related hormone glucocorticoid--which has been linked to obesity and decreased immune response.
Researchers are now saying that reaching for a sugary snack in times of stress may not be such a bad idea after all.
A report in the November Cell Metabolism reveals powerful effects of light on the adrenal glands, a finding that might explain the broad benefits of bright light therapy for a variety of conditions, including sleep and depressive disorders, according to researchers.
Since smoking became popular in America in the 1930s, lung cancer rates have continued to climb. Today, it is still the leading cause of cancer-related deaths, with totals more than the other five leading cancers combined.
Several nuclear receptor proteins appear to overlap in their ability to exert anti-inflammatory effects, according to new research by scientists at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).
Researchers at the Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Disease Center and the Division of Gastroenterology at Loyola University Health System are studying a once-yearly, 15-minute infusion of an intravenous (IV) medication in patients with osteopenia (low bone mass) and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) that, if proven effective, may be considered the standard of treatment.
Results from the DANCER study presented today revealed that MabThera significantly improves symptoms in heavily treated patients who are affected by moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a painful and debilitating disease of the joints.
Professor Paul Emery from the University of Leeds in the UK led the DANCER study (Double blind placebo controlled dose ranging study), designed to confirm the efficacy of rituximab for the treatment of patients with active RA who have failed to improve on one or more disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs).
A new study in the February issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), shows that asthmatic and nonasthmatic African-Americans required higher doses of glucocorticoids to suppress lymphocytes, which play an important role in airway inflammation.
A Johns Hopkins-led study designed to evaluate the ability of etanercept to maintain disease remissions in a serious autoimmune disorder has failed to show any benefit. Etanercept, also called Enbrel, is a common treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and other types of joint inflammation.