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Female sex chromosomes, not just hormones, help in regulation of BP

March 16, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, Mar 16 (ANI): According to Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) scientists, something in female sex chromosomes appears to trigger a rise in blood pressure after the onset of menopause.

The finding challenges the current belief that sex hormones are largely responsible for regulating blood pressure.

Published in Hypertension, the research is the first of its kind and involves male mice engineered to have female (XX) sex chromosomes, and female mice with male (XY) chromosomes.

The finding suggests that sex chromosomes regulate blood pressure in and of themselves. Most researchers have thought that sex hormones (estrogen and testosterone) play key roles in controlling blood pressure and that women develop hypertension after reaching menopause because of loss of estrogen.

“Up until now, it has been impossible to separate the influence of sex chromosomes from the effects of sex hormones, and in this paper, we have shown for the first time that sex chromosomes are impacting blood pressure – independent of sex hormones,” says the study”s lead investigator, Kathryn Sandberg, PhD, director of the GUMC Center for the Study of Sex Differences in Health, Aging, and Disease.

“That is not to say sex hormones don”t matter in blood pressure regulation, because they do, but we now know they aren”t the only players,” she says. “Estrogen likely works to protect against hypertension, but once the hormone is depleted, something is unmasked on female XX chromosomes that allows blood pressure to rise.” (ANI)

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Menopause transition may cause temporary memory loss,learning trouble

May 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 26 (ANI): Women going through the menopause suffer from temporary loss of memory and learning ability, according to a new study.

The largest study of its kind to date has been published in the May 26, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

For a four-year period, researchers studied 2,362 women, who were between the ages of 42 and 52 had at least one menstrual period in the three months before the study started.

The women were given three tests: verbal memory, working memory and a test that measured the speed at which they processed information.

Scientists tested the women throughout four stages of the menopause transition: premenopausal (no change in menstrual periods), early perimenopausal (menstrual irregularity but no “gaps” of 3 months), late perimenopausal (having no period for three to 11 months) and postmenopausal (no period for 12 months).

The study found that processing speed improved with repeated testing during premenopause, early perimenopause and postmenopause, but that scores during late perimenopause did not show the same degree of improvement.

Improvements in processing speed during late perimenopause were only 28 percent as large as improvements observed in premenopause. For verbal memory performance, compared to premenopause, improvement was not as strong during early and late perimenopause. Improvements in verbal memory during early perimenopause were 29 percent as large as improvements observed in premenopause. During late perimenopause, verbal memory improvement was seven percent as large as in premenopause.

Combined, these findings suggest that during the early and late perimenopause women do not learn as well as they do during other menopause transition stages.

“These perimenopausal test results concur with prior self-reported memory difficulties–60 percent of women state that they have memory problems during the menopause transition,” said Gail Greendale, MD, with the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.

“The good news is that the effect of perimenopause on learning seems to be temporary. Our study found that the amount of learning improved back to premenopausal levels during the postmenopausal stage,” the expert added.

The study also found that taking estrogen or progesterone hormones before menopause helped verbal memory and processing speed. In contrast, taking these hormones after the final menstrual period had a negative effect: postmenopausal women using hormones showed no improvement in either processing speed scores or verbal memory scores, unlike postmenopausal women not taking hormones.

“Our results suggest that the ‘critical period’ for estrogen or progesterone’s benefits on the brain may be prior to menopause, but the findings should be interpreted with caution,” said Greendale. (ANI)

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Now, test that predicts when a woman will reach menopause

May 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 26 (ANI): Scientists have made a new discovery that might be of great help for women planning to have babies later in life.

For the first time, scientists have been able to identify the genetic factors that influence the age at which natural menopause occurs.

It is hoped that this can allow women in their late 30s and early 40s to pinpoint accurately how long they have left in which to conceive and when they should start trying for a baby.

Lisette Stolk, a researcher from Erasmus University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, said at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics that a greater understanding of the factors influencing age at menopause might also help to improve the clinical treatment of infertile women.

Stolk and colleagues analysed genetic data from nine studies involving 10,339 menopausal women.

They found 20 single letter changes in the genetic code that were associated with having an early menopause.

The variants, known as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), were located at four different sites on chromosomes 19 and 20, two of the coiled packages of DNA that house the genes.

None of the variants had been identified before. What effect they have is unclear, but the scientists suspect they influence the ovaries or the brain.

“We found that the 20 SNPs were all related to a slightly earlier menopause and women who had one of them experienced menopause nearly a year earlier than others,” said Stolk.

“We know that ten years before menopause women are much less fertile, and five years before many are infertile. In Western countries, where women tend to have children later in life and closer to menopause, age at menopause can be an important factor in whether or not a particular woman is able to become a mother,” Stolk added.

Other effects of earlier menopause include an increased risk of the bone disease osteoporosis, the joint disease osteoarthritis and of heart disease, although it can also offer some protection against the risk of breast cancer. (ANI)

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7 in 10 women ‘feel uncomfortable’ talking about vaginal dryness, pain

May 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 19 (ANI): A new study has revealed that nearly 70 pct of postmenopausal women feel embarrassed to talk about vaginal dryness and pain, and hesitate to seek medical help.

The survey showed that nearly 39 pct of post-menopausal women experience these symptoms of vaginal atrophy and 40 percent agree that it interferes with their sex life.

Local symptoms such as painful intercourse, vaginal dryness, itching, burning, and soreness are caused, like other menopausal symptoms, by the gradual decline of oestrogen production in ovaries.

Seven out of ten said they were reluctant to talk about the problem with their physician.

As result a quarter would wait for over a year before finally contacting their physician.he survey showed only 30 percent of women considered talking to a gynaecologist, and only 29 percent considered talking to a GP.

“The results of this survey really highlight my experiences of treating menopausal women and in my practice in Italy it is even worse. I see many women who have vaginal dryness and pain post-menopause, and the most alarming aspect is that they wait for so long, with only 17 percent of surveyed women taking a treatment to counteract these symptoms.” said Dr. Rossella Nappi, Director of the Gynecological Endocrinology and Menopause Unit at the Maugeri Foundation, University of Pavia, Italy.

“In addition to the physical pain that affects the women, there is an emotional impact on them and their partner as well.

“There is definitely a taboo factor involved as the survey shows that, of those who have experienced vaginal dryness and pain, 47 percent would rather speak to a female physician than a male physician about the problem,” she added.

The survey also showed that 67 percent of those who have had or are currently taking treatment experience improvements, including an improved quality of life, a return to normal sexual activity, and an improvement in the relationship with their partner.

“Vaginal dryness and pain don’t need to be considered as a natural part of growing older and effective treatment options, such as vaginal oestrogen tablets, pessaries, creams or rings are available and can easily be prescribed by their healthcare professional.” said Professor Henry Burger, Consultant Endocrinologist, Jean Hailes Foundation for Women’s Health, Melbourne, Australia.

The study was presented at the European Congress on Menopause in London. (ANI)

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Newly found genes linked with menopause could prevent cancer, heart disease

May 18, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, May 18 (ANI): Scientists have found new gene variants linked with the age at which females experience their first menstrual period and the onset of menopause, which can even help in preventing breast and endometrial cancer and osteoporosis, and cardiovascular disease.

In the collaborative study led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), the researchers have identified 10 genetic variants in two chromosomal regions associated with age at menarche (the first menstrual period), and 13 genetic variants in four chromosomal regions associated with age at natural menopause.

Menarche and natural menopause are two important physiological events in a woman’s life.

The researchers explained that an early onset of menarche and later menopause are well-established risk factors for the development of breast cancer and endometrial cancer.

On the other hand, early menopause increases risk of osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease.

Previous studies have suggested both menarche and menopause may be partially under genetic control.

And thus, to identify common genetic variants influencing these states, the researchers analysed more than 317,000 gene variants in a total of 17,438 women from the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and the Women’s Genome Health Study (WGHS) based at BWH.

“At these newly identified loci, fine mapping or sequencing might lead to identification of the causal variants, and thus expand our knowledge of the underlying physiology and biological regulation of these traits. Insights into the genetic factors influencing the timing of menarche and natural menopause might shed light on normal reproductive function and the prevention of the diseases associated with these two traits,” Nature magazine quoted lead author Chunyan He, a doctoral student at HSPH, as saying.

Daniel Chasman, Director of Computational Biology in the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said:

“The collaboration of the WGHS and the NHS represents a great example of how large cohorts with genome-wide data can complement each other. While only one locus reached near genome-wide significance in the NHS alone, the meta-analysis of combined data had much more statistical power and revealed a total of two loci for timing of menarche and four for timing of menopause.”

Chasman, also an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, added: “Of the loci for timing of menopause, three were already strong but not proven candidates in the NHS; these loci reached genome-wide significance in the WGHS alone, supplementing the meta-analysis by a second mode of validation through replication. The remaining locus, for timing of menopause, would not have been identified, even as a candidate, without the joint power of these two cohorts working together.

“Future collaborations will hopefully continue to leverage the combined power of the two cohorts for association studies directed at other clinical characteristics.”

Titled ‘Genome-wide association studies identify loci associated with age at menarche and at natural menopause’, the study has been published online in Nature Genetics. (ANI)

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Study links hot flashes to lower bone density in women

May 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 7 (ANI): Scientists have found that postmenopausal women with vasomotor symptoms (VMS) – which include hot flashes and night sweats – are more likely to have lower lumbar and total hip bone mineral density than those without VMS.

Researchers at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) have revealed that their findings are based on an analysis of data for 2,213 women between the ages of 42 and 52.

The researchers say that the main objective for which the study was carried out was to see whether women with VMS had lower bone mineral density.

A research article on the study has been published in the journal Menopause. (ANI)

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Soybean may help cut menopause effects

April 9, 2009 By admin 1 Comment

Washington, Apr 9 (ANI): Soy aglycons of isoflavone (SAI), a group of soybean constituent chemicals, may help reduce menopause effects, say researchers.

The research, described in BioMed Central’s open access journal Nutrition and Metabolism, shows how dietary supplementation with SAI lowers cholesterol, increases the anti-oxidative properties of the liver and prevents degeneration of the vaginal lining.

obin Chiou led a team of researchers from National Chiayi University, Taiwan, who studied the effects of the dietary supplement on a group of female rats that had undergone ovary removal.

He said, “These ovariectomized animals are a good model for study of the menopause as the loss of oestrogen from the ovaries mimics the natural reduction in oestrogen seen in menopausal women. SAI itself has weak oestrogenic properties and we’ve shown here that menopause-related syndromes can be prevented or improved by dietary supplementation with the compounds it contains”.

In comparison to control animals, the authors found that the ovariectomized rats fed a diet enriched with SAI showed increased liver antioxidative activities and improved lipid profiles. Levels of harmful LDL cholesterol were reduced, while beneficial HDL cholesterol was increased.

According to Chiou, “It is generally agreed that the higher HDL and the lower LDL concentrations are of benefit in chemoprevention of cardiovascular diseases. Our findings support the indication that soybean consumption may prevent coronary heart disease”.

The authors hope that dietary soy supplementation may provide an alternative to hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which has been linked to the development of uterus and breast cancers. (ANI)

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Acupuncture ‘ineffective’ against menopausal hot flushes

April 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Apr 8 (ANI): Acupuncture may not help relieve menopause-related hot flushes, say researchers.

The conclusion of a systematic review of literature by three groups in Daejon, Busan (South Korea) and Exeter (UK) has been published in the current edition of the peer-reviewed journal Climacteric.

Many women are concerned by the unfavourable publicity given to HRT use, but still have to deal with the symptoms which can occur during and after the menopause. A significant minority of women look for alternatives to HRT to deal with these symptoms.

Often these alternatives are untested, and it can be impossible to balance the risks and benefits of these treatments against the risks and benefits of conventional treatments or the discomfort of untreated menopause.

To reach the conclusion, researchers reviewed studies on the use of acupuncture for the relief of hot flushes during the menopause. They identified 106 studies in total, which they eventually narrowed down to the six most relevant to the study. These six studies were randomised controlled trials (RCTs), which included testing the effects of real acupuncture against the effect of sham acupuncture.

Only one RCT reported favorable effect of acupuncture on the frequency and severity of hot flush after 4 weeks follow-up, while the other five RCTs demonstrated no such effects.

Researchers caution that the quality of good studies is not great, and that because of this the use of acupuncture cannot be completely ruled out. However, the available literature indicates that acupuncture does not seem to be effective in the treatment of menopausal hot flushes.

Lead researcher, Dr Myeong Soo Lee (Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, South Korea) said: “Although the availability of good Randomised Controlled Trials is too small to draw any firm conclusion, in general the evidence from sham-controlled RCTs for the effects of acupuncture for treating menopausal hot flush is not convincing.

“We would always recommend that women wanting relief from menopausal symptoms consult their clinician before undertaking any course of treatment.”

Commenting, Dr David Sturdee (President of the International Menopause Society) said: “There’s no doubt that many women need relief from the symptoms associated with the menopause. They need to make sure that the treatment they choose works, and is right for them. I would always recommend that a woman consult her clinician before starting any treatment.” (ANI)

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Certain radiation therapy treatments can reduce fertility

April 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Apr 2 (ANI): A research team, including an Indian-origin boffin, has suggested that radiation treatment directly to the ovaries should be avoided in female cancer patients of reproductive age because there is a direct relationship between certain types of radiation therapy and fertility problems.

Radiation therapy to the pelvic region can cause ovarian failure or result in damage that makes the uterus unable to accommodate the growth of a foetus.

These effects are not a great concern to cancer patients past their reproductive years, but due to the growing number of paediatric and young-adult cancer survivors, these effects are increasingly relevant.

Researchers at the Harvard Radiation Oncology Program and the Department of Radiation Oncology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, both in Boston, sought to review the impact of radiation therapy on fertility, pregnancy and neonatal outcomes among female patients and the effectiveness of ovarian transposition, or moving the ovaries out of the field of radiation, as a means of preserving fertility.

The researchers reviewed the outcomes of past studies that reported fertility, pregnancy and neonatal outcomes as a result of cranio-spinal, abdominal and pelvic radiation and determined that cranio-spinal irradiation caused hormonal changes that affected a woman’s ability to become pregnant later in life.

They found that women who received abdominal or pelvic radiation had an increased risk of uterine dysfunction that led to miscarriage, preterm labour, low birth weight and placental abnormalities.

The researchers also found that women who received low doses of ovarian radiation could suffer early menopause.

Ovarian transposition was proven to be an effective method of reducing the rates of ovarian dysfunction, but even if the ovaries are outside of the field of radiation, scatter dose can cause significant damage.

“Female patients who are not past their reproductive years would be best served by a multidisciplinary team of caregivers, including a radiation oncologist, pediatric oncologist, medical oncologist, a reproductive endocrinologist or gynecologist, and a maternal fetal medicine specialist,” Akila Viswanathan, M.D., M.P.H., senior author and a radiation oncologist at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute, said.

“Only through a multidisciplinary approach will patients receive optimal care of their cancer and the best options for fertility preservation,” Viswanathan added.

The study has been published in the April 1 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics. (ANI)

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Women’s long-term fertility linked to reduced Parkinson’s risk

February 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Feb 26 (ANI): Women who are fertile for more than 39 years and have natural menopause are at a lower risk of contracting Parkinson’s disease, says a new study.

The study, which will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle, April 25 to May 2, 2009, provides evidence that longer exposure to the body’s own hormones may protect women from the disease.

According to the study’s results, women who have more years of fertile lifespan (number of years from first menstruation to menopause) had a lower risk of developing the disease than women with fewer years of fertile lifespan.

The fertile lifespan is a marker for the body’s own sex hormone levels.

In addition, women with four or more pregnancies were at greater risk of developing the disease than women with fewer pregnancies.

Separately, the risk of Parkinson’s disease was increased in women who had hysterectomies and had also previously taken hormone replacement therapy compared to those who never took hormone therapy, but it was not increased in women who took the hormones but had not had hysterectomies.

“This study does not support a role for treatment with hormone therapy in Parkinson’s, but there are still many unanswered questions,” said study author Rachel Saunders-Pullman, MD, MPH, MS, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, NY, and Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, NY, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.

For the study, researchers analyzed the records of the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study to determine who developed Parkinson’s disease. The study involved about 74,000 women who underwent natural menopause and about 7,800 women who underwent surgical menopause. (ANI)

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Madonna helping Rosie O’Donnell deal with menopause

February 25, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Feb 25 (ANI): Rosie O’Donnell has revealed that Madonna is helping her deal with menopause.

In an interview on The Tyra Banks Show, O’Donnell said that she has been taking advices from the Queen of Pop through emails.

“She’s [Madonna] great, she’s a lot like a big sister,” Usmagazine.com quoted O’Donnell, as saying.

“When I started having my hormone things, I’m like, ‘What the hell is going on?’ she’s like, ‘Get the cream,’” she added.

Meanwhile, Madonna has done another generous thing.

She has sent boxes of clothes, books and toys for the needy children staying at the same Malawian orphanage from where she adopted her son David. (ANI)

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Men too suffer from ‘menopause’

February 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, Feb 19 (ANI): It’s not just women who undergo menopause, even men experience midlife crisis, says researchers.

Middle-aged men often show irritability in behaviour, which they often blame it on their wives’ nagging, but now scientists have said that it’s just another type of menopause.

Many men do not acknowledge that they, just like women, suffer effects from the loss of hormones as they age.

But, Northern California psychotherapist Jed Diamond has said that in men the effects show up as everything from irritable mood swings and flagging sex drive to loss of muscle strength and male identity.

Diamond has said that men’s midlife crisis is just one aspect of male menopause, or andropause, as it is medically known.

While women go through hormonal changes that cause cessation of the menstrual period, resulting in the inability to reproduce, men don’t lose their reproductive abilities.

But some men do experience a decrease in testosterone levels with age.

“We’ve taken a slice and assumed it was the whole picture. There are a number of changes that men go through: hormonal, physiological, interpersonal, sexual and spiritual,” The Daily Telegraph quoted Diamond as saying.

He added: “When you think of midlife crisis, you think of the psychological or social changes, like when men act in a way that focuses upon youth.

“We ignore the hormonal and physiological changes. With women, we think the opposite, emphasising the physiological changes.”

He embarked on his research after finding out that irritability is a symptom of andropause and can cause problems all by itself

Then, he conducted another study with 6000 men and also developed the quiz and put it on his web site, where he said 60,000 people have taken it worldwide.ouann Brizendine, a neuropsychiatrist at the University of California-San Francisco, said that many of his theories are true, anecdotally, for men nationwide.

Brizendine said: “The concept of a midlife crisis has been questioned, but nonetheless, there is a correlation between declining testosterone and age in men.

“For some men, the decline in testosterone affects them in mood, muscle strength and sexual function.

“There is good evidence that declining testosterone in some men can make their mood decline, and some men have increased moodiness and irritability.”

Irritable Male Syndrome offers four key causes of male irritability-one is a decrease in testosterone.

Men become angrier because they feel less “like themselves,” said Diamond.

Other than that, stress, biochemical changes in the brain and changes in male identity and male roles in society cause irritability.

Diamond, the author of ‘The Irritable Male Syndrome: Managing the Four Key Causes of Aggression and Depression’ has developed an online support system at menalive.com.

Through his site, he is educating men around the globe about the little-known, but apparently widely experienced, phenomenon. (ANI)

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Study debunks herbal menopause remedy myth

February 15, 2009 By admin 2 Comments

Washington, Jan 14 (ANI): Scientists have found no strong evidence proving the efficacy of commonly taken herbal remedies in relieving troublesome menopausal symptoms.

In fact, for some of these medicines there is hardly any evidence at all, according to the researchers.

A large number of women experience vasomotor symptoms around the menopause, such as hot flushes and night sweats, prompted by the sharp fall in oestrogen levels.

Commonly used herbal remedies to relieve menopausal symptoms include black cohosh, red clover, Dong quai, evening primrose oil, and ginseng. Others include wild yam extract, chaste tree, hops, sage leaf, and kava kava.

However, according to the study, only a little good quality evidence on the effectiveness of herbal medicines, or how they might react with prescription medicines is available.

Generally speaking, safety has been under researched, which is a major concern given that herbal remedies are often assumed to be “safe” just on the grounds that they are “natural,” said the authors.

Usually published studies are poorly designed, include too few participants, or don’t last long enough to be of real value.

Also, the chemical make-up of various preparations of the same herb may differ, which can make it difficult to compare trial results.

The drugs regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), has given a Traditional Herbal Registration to Menoherb, which contains black cohosh, under a scheme designed to boost the safety of herbal products on sale.

However, the authors said that clinical trial data on black cohosh are “equivocal,” with some studies suggesting that the remedy works well, while others suggest that it does not relieve symptoms effectively.

One of the potential side effect of black cohosh is liver toxicity.

The authors said that there is “no convincing evidence” that red clover extract is effective.

Also little evidence is there one way or another for dong quai, evening primrose oil, wild yam, chaste tree, hops, or sage.

The study, titled ‘Herbal medicines for menopausal symptoms’ is published in the latest issue of the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB). (ANI)

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Obesity may raise migraine risk

February 13, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Feb 13(ANI): Obesity can increase the risk of getting migraine, according to a new study.

Researchers looked at 22,211 people who were asked to report whether they suffered from either migraine or severe headaches.

They found that age, gender and the way that body fat is distributed affected the risk of migraine.

Those who were 20 to 55 years of age and who had larger waistlines were more likely to have migraine attacks, on average, than people of the same age who had smaller waistlines.

About 37 percent of women between the ages of 20, who had excess fat around the belly reported migraine, compared to 29 percent without excess belly fat.

In men 20 to 55 years old, 20 percent of those with abdominal obesity reported migraine as compared to 16 percent of those without abdominal obesity.

However, in women 20 to 55 years of age with excess belly fat, the odds of migraine went up 1.3 times after adjusting for heart disease risk factors and for total body obesity.

After the age of 55, total body obesity was not associated with migraine in men or women. However, in women older than 55 years with large waistlines the odds of migraine actually decreased.

“These results, while still in the early stages, suggest that losing weight in the stomach area may be beneficial for younger people who experience migraine and especially so for women,” said study author B. Lee Peterlin, DO, of Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.

“Men and women have body tissue distributed in different ways. After puberty women show more fatty tissue deposits in the hip and thigh area while men predominantly have more fatty tissue in the belly region. After menopause, women show more fatty tissue in the belly area as well. For some diseases, including heart disease and diabetes, excess fat around the waistline appears to be a stronger risk factor than total body obesity,” Peterlin said.

The study will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle, April 25 to May 2, 2009. (ANI)

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Women’s “cooing over babies” is hardwired in their hormones

January 22, 2009 By Rajesh Leave a Comment

London, Jan 22 (ANI): The never-ending maternal question – why are woman more likely than men to coo over babies – has finally been answered, claim boffins, who credit hormones for the ‘loving’ tendency.

The study by St Andrews University researchers, who used computer images, found that women are able to determine a “cute” baby instinctively by its chubby cheeks, large forehead, big round eyes and button nose, reports the Sun.

Men, however, struggle to pick out the cutest baby from a selection of infant pictures.

The researchers say “cuteness sensitivity” is influenced by female reproductive hormones.

Dr Reiner Sprengelmeyer, of the university’s school of psychology, said: “We found that young women between 19-26 and 45-51 years were more sensitive to differences in infant cuteness than men aged 19-26 and 53-60 years.

“Because average age at menopause is 51 years in the UK, these findings suggest the possible involvement of reproductive hormones in cuteness sensitivity.” (ANI)

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Obesity linked to ovarian cancer: Study

January 5, 2009 By Rajiv Gupta 1 Comment

London, Jan 5 (ANI): A new study by researchers in the US has confirmed that obesity is linked to ovarian cancer.

In a study of almost 95,000 women, researchers found that among women aged 50 to 71, being obese increased the risk of the disease by almost 80 per cent.

A link between obesity and ovarian cancer was already known, but the new study provides confirmation of the association.

The study also highlights the way hormones play a role in the way body fat influences cancer risk.

The link was only seen in women who had never used hormone replacement therapy (HRT) after the menopause.

No link between body weight and ovarian cancer was evident among women who had been on HRT.

The new study supports the hypothesis that obesity may up ovarian cancer risk through hormonal effects.

“The observed relations between obesity and ovarian cancer risk have relevance for public health programmes aimed at reducing obesity in the population,” the Independent quoted Dr Michael Leitzmann, from the US National Cancer Institute, as saying.

Researchers found that a total of 303 women in the study group developed ovarian cancer over a period of seven years. Among women who had never taken hormones after the menopause, obesity increased the risk of the disease by almost 80 per cent.

The study appears in the journal Cancer. (ANI)

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Get a blood test to ascertain menopause

November 3, 2008 By admin Leave a Comment

A latest research by an international team, led by scientists from Michigan University says that a simple blood test could give an accurate time when a woman will be in the stage of menopause.

The test is a simple analysis of the hormones in the blood. According to the researchers these hormones fluctuate in the reproductive life cycle of a woman.

The anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and inhibin B concentrations were predictive of the time to menopause. AMH falls to a very low or non-measurable level five years prior to the final menstrual period. This indicates that the woman is nearing menopause.

The scientists studied the fluctuations in the hormones in 629 women over 14 years.

They say, “The information provides a ‘roadmap’ as to how fast women are progressing through the different elements of their reproductive life. People really want information about ‘how long do I have and when’ll I have my final menstrual period’.

“We finally have numbers from enough women evaluated over a long time period to describe the reproductive ageing process,” lead researcher Professor Maryfran Sowers was quoted by the ‘Daily Mail’ as saying.

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