Wenner uses AHA funding to investigate hormones, vascular function
Hormones are the chemical envoys for our bodies. They communicate with our brains, heart, bones, muscles and, yes, reproductive organs. University of Delaware physiologist Megan Wenner is working to understand how sex hormones influence vascular function. (more…)
Local chemical signals released by fat cells in the mammary gland appear to provide a crucial link between exposure to unrelenting social stressors early in life, and the subsequent development of breast cancer, researchers from the University of Chicago report in the July 2013 issue of the journal Cancer Prevention Research.
Some forms of stress exposure may be associated with an increased risk of certain types of aggressive breast cancer. But the mechanisms linking the biology of social stress to cancer have been hard to identify. To unravel that mechanism, the researchers looked for differences between mice raised in small groups and those that grow up in an isolated setting—an established model of chronic stress without social supports. (more…)
Aggravated hormone level brings about numerous changes to almost every part of woman’s body, from body structure to skin to overall health. A woman can look most entrancing and delightful during her pregnancy. And this is certainly not just an old wife’s tale; it’s a widely accepted truth. While some ladies look luscious during their pregnancies, for others, all the elevated hormonal levels can have entirely opposite effects, leading to many pregnancy skin problems.
On your countdown to motherhood variety of changes take place on your skin and even a slight change from normal on it is evident. There are many skincare products or tropical treatments can get absorbed into your skin and then into your baby’s. So skincare during this nine months countdown requires special attention. (more…)
Two Yale doctors are using herbs, prescriptions, counseling and lifestyle advice to treat problems many women have been embarrassed to talk about—and improving their quality of life.
Noa Benjamini’s natural optimism didn’t flag when she was diagnosed with uterine cancer. “I knew it was treatable,” she recalls. She was recovering from surgery when she got her first hot flash. “That’s when I cried,” she says. Suddenly Benjamini saw herself careening toward old age. “I thought I’d shrivel up,” she says. (more…)
*Large-scale study finds soy may alleviate hot flashes in menopause*
In the most comprehensive study to date to examine the effects of soy on menopause, researchers have found that two daily servings of soy can reduce the frequency and severity of hot flashes by up to 26 percent, compared to a placebo.
The findings, published in Menopause: The Journal of the North American Menopause Association, reviewed 19 previous studies that examined more than 1,200 women. (more…)
*Researchers discover molecular mechanism behind drink’s prophylactic effect*
Coffee, that morning elixir, may give us an early jump-start to the day, but numerous studies have shown that it also may be protective against type 2 diabetes. Yet no one has really understood why.
Now, researchers at UCLA have discovered a possible molecular mechanism behind coffee’s protective effect. A protein called sex hormone–binding globulin (SHBG) regulates the biological activity of the body’s sex hormones, testosterone and estrogen, which have long been thought to play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes. And coffee consumption, it turns out, increases plasma levels of SHBG. (more…)
Adrianna Mendrek. Image credit : University of Montreal
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that differs between the sexes in terms of age at onset, symptomatology, response to medication, and structural brain abnormalities. Now, a new study from the Université de Montréal shows that there is gender difference between men and women’s mental ability – with women performing better than men. These findings, published recently in, Schizophrenia Research, have implications for the more than 300 000 affected Canadians.
“We are the first to report sex differences in brain function of schizophrenics,” says Université de Montréal professor, Adrianna Mendrek a researcher at the Centre de Recherche Fernand-Seguin, Hospital Louis-H Lafontaine. “We chose to study a task involving mental rotation of a three dimensional image because in healthy men and women, this consistently elicits differences in terms of reaction time and performance accuracy.” (more…)
Tamas Horvath. Image credit: Yale University
Tamas Horvath is the first to tell you that he doesn’t study obesity. But his research on the effects of metabolism on higher brain functions could provide deeper understanding of the brain’s link to appetite, weight and to metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity.
His lab was the first to provide evidence that the brain uses fat as fuel. Horvath has also studied how endocrine signals in the brain regulate neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
Horvath followed his father and grandfather into veterinary medicine in his native Hungary, but his training sparked a passion for basic research. His achievements have earned him a long title that speaks to his varied research interests. He became chair of the Department of Comparative Medicine at Yale School of Medicine in 2005, and he is also a professor in the Departments of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences and Neurobiology. Horvath also heads the Program on Integrative Cell Signaling and the Neurobiology of Metabolism. (more…)
