Progestin News and Research

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Organon obtains license for Merck's novel oral contraceptive

Akzo Nobel's human healthcare business, Organon, has been granted worldwide development and marketing rights by Merck KGaA affiliate Laboratoire Théramex for its novel oral contraceptive EMM 310066.

1 Jun 2005

Studies examine menopausal hormone therapy and risk of breast cancer recurrence

The doses of estrogen and progestogen used in menopausal hormone therapy may be related to the risk of breast cancer recurrence, according to a new study in the April 6 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

5 Apr 2005

NIH Panel supports use of hormone therapy for treatment of menopausal symptoms

A panel meeting in conjunction with this week's Conference on the Management of Menopause-Related Symptoms, convened by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has issued a statement supporting the use of postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT) for the management of moderate to severe menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes, night sweats, and vaginal dryness.

23 Mar 2005

Conference to assess evidence on management of menopause-related symptoms

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will hold a State-of-the-Science Conference on Management of Menopause-Related Symptoms, March 21-23, 2005, at the Natcher Conference Center on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland.

16 Mar 2005

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

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

Estrogen therapy may increase risk for gallbladder disease

Dominic J. Cirillo, B.S., of the University of Iowa, Iowa City, and colleagues examined data from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), which were two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials conducted at 40 U.S. clinical centers.

19 Jan 2005

Postpartum depression: Beyond the 'Baby Blues'

In a culture where giving birth is often believed to be the most joyful moment in life, many women instead feel tired, sad, anxious, distracted and depressed after the baby is born.

18 Nov 2004

Reproductive hormones have effects on all of these stages of brain growth and development

Scientists are now uncovering increasing evidence that the brain not only responds to hormones produced by the reproductive system, but that these hormones-the so-called "female hormones," estrogen and progestin, and the "male" androgens, such as testosterone-play an important role in the development of differences between male and female brains.

2 Nov 2004

Hormone therapy findings suggest a complex relationship between marketing, scientific evidence and prescribing patterns

Pharmaceutical companies slashed their promotional spending for hormone therapies by more than a third following reports in July 2002 of health risks associated with the drugs, but within the year they beefed up their marketing efforts to promote lower-dose forms of the medications

1 Nov 2004

One in four deaths among women with heart failure can be attributed to kidney problems

About one in four deaths among women with heart failure can be attributed to kidney problems, and more deaths are linked to renal insufficiency than to any other single risk factor, according to a new study in the Oct. 19, 2004 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

18 Oct 2004

Low-dose estrogen therapy significantly reduced the progression of fatty buildup in the arteries leading to the heart

“We’ve shown that you can get the same reduction in coronary artery atherosclerosis with standard-dose or low-dose estrogen,” said Thomas B. Clarkson, D.V.M., one of the investigators. “It is very significant.”

10 Oct 2004

Progestin in hormone therapy could dramatically affect heart attack severity

“One type of hormone therapy limited heart muscle damage to only 5 percent while another resulted in permanent damage to 35 percent of muscle,” said J. Koudy Williams, Ph.D., lead investigator, from Wake Forest Baptist. “If we can learn more about this mechanism we might be able to identify better hormone therapies for postmenopausal women.”

10 Oct 2004

Women who take the hormone therapy estrogen plus progestin have double the risk for venous thrombosis

Mary Cushman, M.D., M.Sc., of the University of Vermont, Colchester, Vt., and colleagues examined the effects of postmenopausal hormone therapy on VT in the presence of other thrombosis risk factors, such as age and obesity.

5 Oct 2004

Researchers investigate whether hormone therapy and two alternative herbal products can lessen memory in menopausal women

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago are investigating whether hormone therapy and two alternative herbal products can lessen memory and other cognitive problems experienced by menopausal women.

4 Oct 2004

FDA to highlight benefits and risks of hormone therapy for menopausal symptoms

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is implementing a nationwide information campaign to raise awareness about the resources available to address questions related to the benefits and risks of hormone therapy for menopausal symptoms.

29 Sep 2004

Measuring a womans fitness gives a clearer indication of coronary artery disease than measuring obesity

Women reporting higher levels of physical fitness have fewer coronary artery disease risk factors, less coronary artery disease, and a lower risk for cardiovascular events, whereas measures of obesity are not as strongly associated with these outcomes, according to a study in the September 8 issue of JAMA

8 Sep 2004

Postmenopausal women with heart disease have three fold increased risk of heart failure if they also have diabetes

In addition, diabetic women in the study who also had kidney disease or obesity, or whose diabetes was poorly controlled (fasting blood sugar levels above 300 mg/dL) had a risk of heart failure 6-10 times higher than that of women without diabetes.

7 Sep 2004

Popular injectable contraceptive increases risk of STD's

The injectable contraceptive depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) appears to increase a woman’s risk of acquiring the sexually transmitted infections chlamydia and gonorrhea by approximately three fold when compared to women not using a hormonal contraceptive

23 Aug 2004

Benefits from short-term hormone therapy are likely to outweigh the risks

A group of prominent experts on treatment of the menopause today issued advice for doctors on the use of hormone therapy.

13 Aug 2004