Endocrinology News and Research

Latest Endocrinology News and Research

Access to emergency contraception can help reduce unintended pregnancy in teens

About 22 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 44 report having used emergency contraception. But even though the Food and Drug Administration approved levonorgestrel--more commonly known as Plan B--for over-the-counter use for women of all ages in 2013, it's not always easy to get--especially at local, mom-and-pop drug stores.

30 Sep 2020

Sleep apnea increases risk of severe COVID 19

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a respiratory disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. A subset of COVID-19 patients face a severe form of the disease with hospitalization, respiratory failure, or death. Severe COVID-19 is primarily characterized by respiratory distress, and the common risk factors are older age, obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and poor lung function.

29 Sep 2020

Case fatality rates for COVID-19 and health indicators

Researchers from Turkey and Switzerland collaborated to study the nation-specific case fatality rates for COVID-19 caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The pandemic has affected around 33.5 million people worldwide and killed over 1 million making it one of the largest global health crises in recent memory.

29 Sep 2020

Fructose intake may exacerbate inflammatory bowel disease, study reveals

Diet remains an important part of disease prevention and management, and a new study suggests that consumption of fructose may worsen intestinal inflammation common to inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).

29 Sep 2020

Variations in inflammatory gene increase the risk of obesity

A gene that helps to control inflammation increases the risk of obesity and could be turned off in mice to stop weight gain, a study from The University of Queensland has found.

29 Sep 2020

Induction of acute senescence may be a necessary process in hemorrhagic shock

It's called senescence, when stressed cells can no longer divide to make new cells, and it's considered a factor in aging and in some diseases.

29 Sep 2020

ACD study underscores the prevalence of malnutrition among obese individuals

A new editorial accompanying a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology is bringing attention to the underappreciated and often overlooked issue of malnutrition among those who are obese.

29 Sep 2020

Valproic acid can interact with DNA conformation and regulate gene expression

Results of recent studies involving valproic acid, used for decades as an anti-convulsant drug, show that it can interact with the conformation of DNA and regulate gene expression.

29 Sep 2020

Fasting blood glucose levels upon admission tied to COVID-19 prognosis, study finds

In the study, which appeared on the pre-print open-source medRxiv* server, the investigators aimed to determine the prognostic value of blood glucose in predicting outcomes in COVID-19 disease, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

28 Sep 2020

Wearable device tracks biomarkers in sweat associated with inflammatory bowel disease

University of Texas at Dallas researchers have designed a wearable device that monitors sweat for biomarkers that could signal flare-ups of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

28 Sep 2020

Targeted therapy found to be effective at shrinking tumors in patients with nonsmall-cell lung cancer

An international team of researchers has found that selpercatinib, a drug that precisely targets cancers driven by mutations or alterations in the gene RET, was effective at shrinking tumours in patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with a majority of patients living for more than a year without disease progression.

28 Sep 2020

Early introduction of gluten may be an effective celiac disease prevention strategy

Introducing high doses of gluten from four months of age into infants' diets could prevent them from developing celiac disease, a study has found.

28 Sep 2020

Research reveals how genetic differences in body fat affect men and women's health risks

New research is revealing how genetic differences in the fat in men's and women's bodies affect the diseases each sex is likely to get.

28 Sep 2020

Marrowquant can quantify multiple bone components in histological images

The bone marrow is the soft tissue inside our bones. Its main role is to produce stem cells that will go on to become various cells of the blood, including white blood cells that fight infections, red blood cells that carry oxygen throughout the body, and platelets that control bleeding.

28 Sep 2020

Newer Type 2 diabetes medications could reduce kidney, heart disease risks

Two newer groups of medications prescribed primarily for Type 2 diabetes treatment (SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists) could significantly reduce risks associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and heart disease.

28 Sep 2020

Auto-antibodies may explain why some people develop severe COVID-19

Now, a new study by an international team of health experts shows that some life-threatening cases of COVID-19 can be traced to specific weak spots in the patients' immune system.

28 Sep 2020

Risk factors for mortality among hospitalized patients with COVID-19

A new study by scientists at biotechnology company Genentech, Inc., and published on the preprint server medRxiv in September 2020 attempts to identify the factors which may shape the risk for death in COVID-19 disease.

27 Sep 2020

WHO plans to increase access to affordable, quality-assured testing and treatment for diabetes

Over a four-day workshop that ended on 25 September 2020, WHO and key international health partners mapped out a plan to boost access to affordable and quality-assured testing and treatment for diabetes.

26 Sep 2020

Researchers develop a stable nano-carrier for medications

Medications often have unwanted side-effects. One reason is that they reach not only the unhealthy cells for which they are intended, but also reach and have an impact on healthy cells.

25 Sep 2020

University of Minnesota receives funding to initiate research on diabetes drug as a COVID-19 treatment

University of Minnesota Medical School researchers received funding from the Parsemus Foundation to initiate research on the widely-used diabetes medication, metformin, available globally as an inexpensive generic drug for prevention and treatment for COVID-19.

25 Sep 2020