Female-to-Male Transsexuals Have Higher Androgen Levels, Not PCOS
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Contrary to previous studies, female-to-male transsexuals do not have a higher prevalence of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), though they do have significantly higher androgen levels, according to a new study accepted for publication in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).
PCOS is an endocrine disorder with a host of symptoms related to small painful cysts on the ovaries. It is marked by the overproduction of male hormones in females. Until now, it has been postulated that the prevalence of PCOS in female-to-male transsexuals is higher than normal.
“Several studies have reported a higher prevalence of PCOS in female-to-male transsexuals but the numbers of patients were small and ultrasound was not used for diagnosis,” said Dr. Andreas Mueller of Erlangen University Hospital in Erlangen, Germany. “This is the first prospective endocrine evaluation of female-to-male transsexuals using up-to-date state-of-the-art criteria incorporating transvaginal ultrasonography for diagnosing PCOS or hyperandrogenemia.”
Doctors Should Watch for Depression in Arthritis Patients
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Patients with rheumatoid arthritis are twice as likely to experience depression but are unlikely to talk to a doctor about it, according to researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) – the most common form of chronic inflammatory arthritis – is a debilitating disease characterized by inflammation of joint tissues, persistent pain, functional disability, stiffness and fatigue.
Betsy Sleath, PhD, a professor at the UNC School of Pharmacy, said that although depression in primary care settings has been well examined, no previous studies have looked at whether rheumatologists and RA patients discuss depression during medical visits.
Sleep apnea dangerous for stroke patients
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Sleep apnea, in which breathing briefly ceases or becomes blocked numerous times during the night, is a risk factor for early death in people who have had a stroke, according to a new study.
“Sleep apnea occurs frequently among patients with stroke, but it is still unknown whether a diagnosis of sleep apnea is an independent risk factor for mortality,” Dr. Karl A. Franklin, of Umea University Hospital, Sweden, and colleagues write in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
To better understand this relationship, the researchers examined long-term survival among 132 stroke patients admitted for in-hospital stroke rehabilitation between 1995 and 1997.
Study rejects Internet sex predator stereotype
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The typical online sexual predator is not someone posing as a teen to lure unsuspecting victims into face-to-face meetings that result in violent rapes, U.S. researchers said on Monday.
Rather, they tend to be adults who make their intentions of a sexual encounter quite plain to vulnerable young teens who often believe they are in love with the predator, they said.
And contrary to the concerns of parents and state attorneys general, they found social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace do not appear to expose teens to greater risks.
Physical job activity may cut prostate cancer risk
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Working in a job that requires a continuous level of high physical effort may decrease the likelihood of a man developing prostate cancer, researchers report.
Previous research suggested that physical activity decreases the risk of certain cancers. “This study supports this finding for prostate cancer,” Dr. Anusha Krishnadasan, at the University of California, Los Angeles, told Reuters Health.
Krishnadasan and colleagues looked at the link between prostate cancer and physical activity among men working at a southern California facility that tested aerospace engines and nuclear power systems.
Teens who watch wrestling take more health risks
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Teenage fans of TV wrestling are more likely than their peers to be aggressive or take chances with their health, a study suggests.
Researchers found that among 2,300 16- to 20-year-old Americans, those who watched professional wrestling were more likely to be violent, smoke or have unprotected sex—and the more they watched TV wrestling, the greater their odds of taking such risks.
The findings, reported in the Southern Medical Journal, do not prove that watching wrestling alters young people’s behavior. “It may be the case that kids who have a personality that leads them to be aggressive also gravitate to watching wrestling on TV,” noted Dr. Mark Wolfson, one of the researchers on the study and an associate professor at Wake-Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Music hits right note for stroke patients
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A little Beethoven is good for the brain, according to a Finnish study published on Wednesday showing that music helps people recover more quickly from strokes.
And patients who listened to a few hours of music each day soon after a stroke also improved their verbal memory and were in a better mood compared to patients who did not listen to music or used audio books, the researchers said.
Music therapy has long been used in a range of treatments but the study published in the journal Brain is the first to show the effect in people, they added.
U.S. cancer death rate down but 565,650 seen in 2008
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The U.S. death rate from cancer has continued a steady decline that began in the early 1990s but it will still kill a projected 565,650 Americans this year, the American Cancer Society said on Wednesday.
The death rate from lung, colorectal, prostate, breast and other cancer types fell in 2005, the most recent year for which figures were available, but not as much as in 2003 and 2004, the group said. The actual number of cancer deaths rose.
The cancer death rate for men has fallen by 18.4 percent since peaking in 1990 and for women has fallen by 10.5 percent since peaking in 1991. Cancer is the No. 2 cause of death in the United States, behind heart disease.
Nintendo rolls out fitness product: report
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Games maker Nintendo Co is planning to launch a new physical fitness product called Wii Fit for U.S. shipping in May, according to the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.
The Wii Fit will come with a weight-and-motion sensing device called the Wii Balance Board, according to the report.
Depression plus hostility poses heart risk
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Older adults who are simultaneously hostile and depressed may be at increased risk for cardiovascular disease.
Depressive symptoms and hostility appear to act together in a complex way to influence levels of two inflammatory proteins that predict future heart disease, Dr. Jesse C. Stewart told Reuters Health.
Stewart, of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, and colleagues examined the relationships between depressive symptoms, hostility, and the blood levels of two inflammatory markers for cardiovascular disease—interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein—in 316 healthy men and women.
Birth control pills may lower colon cancer risk
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Women who have used birth control pills seem to have a slightly decreased risk of colon cancer as they age, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that among nearly 90,000 women ages 40 to 59, those who had ever used oral contraceptives were 17 percent less likely to develop colon cancer over the next 16 years.
The findings, which appear in the International Journal of Cancer, are in line with evidence suggesting that estrogen plays a role in colon cancer risk.
Child Obesity Seen as Fueled by Spanish Language TV Ads
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Spanish-language television is bombarding children with so many fast-food commercials that it may be fueling the rising obesity epidemic among Latino youth, according to research led by pediatricians from the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. Latino children, who make up one-fifth of the U.S. child population, also have the highest obesity and overweight rates of all ethnic groups.
A report on the study, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, was released online ahead of print in the Journal of Pediatrics.
“While we cannot blame overweight and obesity solely on TV commercials, there is solid evidence that children exposed to such messages tend to have unhealthy diets and to be overweight,” says study lead investigator Darcy Thompson, M.D., M.P.H., a pediatrician at Hopkins Children’s.
Stress hormone impacts memory, learning in diabetic rodents
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Diabetes is known to impair the cognitive health of people, but now scientists have identified one potential mechanism underlying these learning and memory problems. A new National Institutes of Health (NIH) study in diabetic rodents finds that increased levels of a stress hormone produced by the adrenal gland disrupt the healthy functioning of the hippocampus, the region of the brain responsible for learning and short-term memory. Moreover, when levels of the adrenal glucocorticoid hormone corticosterone (also known as cortisol in humans) are returned to normal, the hippocampus recovers its ability to build new cells and regains the “plasticity” needed to compensate for injury and disease and adjust to change.
The study appears in the Feb. 17, 2008, issue of Nature Neuroscience and was conducted by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the NIH. NIA’s Mark Mattson, Ph.D., and colleagues in the Institute’s Intramural Research Program performed the study with Alexis M. Stranahan, a graduate student at Princeton University in New Jersey.
“This research in animal models is intriguing, suggesting the possibility of novel approaches in preventing and treating cognitive impairment by maintaining normal levels of glucocorticoid,” said Richard J. Hodes, M.D., NIA director. “Further study will provide a better understanding of the often complex interplay between the nervous system, hormones and cognitive health.”
Major study links insurance status to advanced stage in multiple cancers
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A new American Cancer Society study of twelve types of cancer among more than 3.5 million cancer patients finds uninsured patients were significantly more likely to present with advanced stage cancer compared to patients with private insurance. The study, which appears in the March issue of The Lancet Oncology, is the first to use national data to investigate insurance status and stage of diagnosis for a large number of cancer sites. It finds the strongest association between insurance status and advanced cancer was for cancers that can be detected early by screening or evaluation of symptoms.
For their study, American Cancer Society researchers led by Michael Halpern, M.D., Ph.D., strategic director of health services research, compared insurance status and stage at diagnosis using the National Cancer Database, a hospital-based registry capturing patient information from approximately 1,430 facilities. The database includes information for approximately 73 percent of patients diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. The new analysis included patients in the database between ages 18 and 99 diagnosed with any of 12 cancers between 1998 and 2004.
The study found consistent associations between insurance status and stage at diagnosis across multiple cancer sites. Compared to patients with private insurance, uninsured patients had significantly increased likelihoods of being diagnosed with cancer at more advanced stages.
Hair sample may provide breast cancer diagnosis
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Hair from women with breast cancer can be distinguished from hair obtained from women without the disease, researchers in Australia report.
When hair is exposed to X-rays, the radiation is diffracted in a distinctive pattern by the alpha-keratin that forms hair, the researchers explain in the International Journal of Cancer. Dr. Gary L. Corino and Dr. Peter W. French, based at Fermiscan Ltd in Sydney, used the technique to look at samples of hair from 13 patients diagnosed with breast cancer and 20 healthy subjects.
Hair was cut as close to the skin as possible to obtain samples of the most recent hair growth. The investigators “successfully and consistently generated the basic alpha-keratin X-ray diffraction pattern in every hair sample.”
