Endocrinology
What’s the life expectancy of patients when they begin treatment for osteoporosis?
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Despite reports that people with osteoporosis have an increased risk of dying prematurely, a new study has found that life expectancy of newly diagnosed and treated osteoporosis patients is in excess of 15 years in women below the age of 75 and in men below the age of 60.
In more detailed analyses, the residual life expectancy after beginning osteoporosis treatment was estimated to be 18.2 years in a 50-year-old man and 7.5 years in a 75-year old man. Estimates in women were 26.4 years and 13.5 years. The Journal of Bone and Mineral Research study included 58,637 patients with osteoporosis and 225,084 age- and gender-matched controls. Information on deaths until the end of 2013 was retrieved, providing a follow-up period of 10 to 17 years.
Widespread agricultural contaminant impacts fish reproductive behavior
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A common growth-promoting hormone used worldwide in the cattle industry has been found to affect the sexual behaviours of fish at a very low concentration in waterways - with potentially serious ecological and evolutionary consequences.
Researchers from Monash University, Australia in collaboration with researchers from Åbo Akademi University in Finland, have found that the steroid 17β-trenbolone - used on livestock to increase muscle growth - alters male reproductive behaviour in guppy fish (Poecilia reticulata).
This androgenic growth promoter is part of a group of contaminants called endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that enter the environment through a variety of sources - from discharge of household waste to agricultural run-off and industrial effluent.
Using trenbolone in livestock farming has been banned in the EU. However, in Denmark, researchers have measured high concentrations of it in gym sewage. Trenbolone is popular among bodybuilders. Trenbolone is used for example in the United States, Argentina and Australia.
Study ties breathing problems, asthma to bone loss
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People with asthma-related breathing problems may be at increased risk for bone loss, according to a new study.
The study examined the records of more than 7,000 adults in Seoul, Korea, and found those with a certain characteristic of asthma had significantly lower bone density in a region of their spine than those without asthma symptoms.
The characteristic, called airway hyperresponsiveness, means the airways in the lungs are particularly sensitive, and it doesn’t take much to trigger an asthma attack.
However, both men and women with airway hyperresponsiveness were still in the normal range for overall bone density, on average. And researchers couldn’t say whether the asthma symptoms or the bone loss came first or what linked the two.
Male-female ring finger proportions tied to sex hormones in embryo; may offer health insights
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Biologists at the University of Florida have found a reason why men’s ring fingers are generally longer than their index fingers — and why the reverse usually holds true for women.
The finding could help medical professionals understand the origin of behavior and disease, which may be useful for customizing treatments or assessing risks in context with specific medical conditions.
Writing this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, developmental biologists Martin Cohn, Ph.D., and Zhengui Zheng, Ph.D., of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the department of molecular genetics and microbiology at the UF College of Medicine, show that male and female digit proportions are determined by the balance of sex hormones during early embryonic development. Differences in how these hormones activate receptors in males and females affect the growth of specific digits.
The discovery provides a genetic explanation for a raft of studies that link finger proportions with traits ranging from sperm counts, aggression, musical ability, sexual orientation and sports prowess, to health problems such as autism, depression, heart attack and breast cancer.
Stem Cell “Memory” Can Boost Insulin Levels
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Stem cells from early embryos can be coaxed into becoming a diverse array of specialized cells to revive and repair different areas of the body. Therapies based on these stem cells have long been contemplated for the treatment of diabetes, but have been held back by medical and ethical drawbacks.
Now researchers at Tel Aviv University are capitalizing on the “memories” of stem cells generated from adult cells to bring new hope to sufferers of juvenile or type 1 diabetes, which affects three million people in the United States.
Prof. Shimon Efrat of TAU’s Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, says these “induced pluripotent stem cells,” derived from adult cells, represent an embryonic-like state. To some degree, he found, the cells retain a “memory” of what they once were — when created from pancreatic beta cells, the cells responsible for the production of insulin, these pluripotent cells prove more efficient than their embryonic counterparts in creating insulin-producing cells. Prof. Efrat says that this discovery promises to advance the development of cell replacement therapy for diabetics, possibly leading to an effective alternative to organ transplants.
Large human study links phthalates, BPA and thyroid hormone levels
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A link between chemicals called phthalates and thyroid hormone levels was confirmed by the University of Michigan in the first large-scale and nationally representative study of phthalates and BPA in relation to thyroid function in humans.
The U-M School of Public Health study also reported suggestive findings consistent with a previously reported link between a chemical called bisphenol-A and thyroid hormone levels. BPA is best known for its use in certain plastic water bottles and in the linings of canned foods.
Researchers used publicly available data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to compare urine metabolites and serum thyroid measures from 1,346 adults and 329 adolescents. Generally speaking, greater concentrations of urinary phthalate metabolites and BPA were associated with greater impacts on serum thyroid measures, said John Meeker, assistant professor at U-M SPH and lead study author.
Minimally invasive thyroid surgery effective in children
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Surgical approaches that reduce incision size and recovery time from thyroid surgery work well in children, physician-scientists report.
“It brings parents comfort to know it’s going to be a small incision, an outpatient surgery with no drains or staples on the skin. We just use some glue for the skin and the recovery is very rapid,” said Dr. David Terris, Chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Georgia Health Sciences University.
The results should bring comfort as well with complication rates of minimally invasive thyroid surgery on par with the standard surgical approach that can leave a several-inch scar at the base of the neck. Terris and Dr. Melanie W. Seybt, endocrine-head and neck surgeon at GHSU, co-authored the study published in Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology.
Clinical study suggests estrogen levels and breast health can be altered
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Researchers from Canada and the United States today told attendees of the Experimental Biology 2011 Scientific Meeting that they have uncovered a possible means of enabling women to favorably influence whether the estrogens in their bodies take a “beneficial path” or a “disease-potential” path.
The researchers tested a nutritional combination of indole-3 carbinol, milk thistle extract, calcium-D-glucarate, Schizandra chinensis fruit extract, stinging nettle, lignans extracted from the Norway spruce, and vitamin D on 47 pre-menopausal women and 49 post-menopausal women for 28 days. On day one and 28, they analyzed blood and urine samples. Researchers were pleasantly surprised to discover consumption of the femMED supplement significantly increased the mean urinary concentration of 2-OHE in pre- and post-menopausal women (by 110% and 88%, respectively), suggesting a risk-reducing effect. The Breast Health supplement was well-tolerated, and displayed no adverse side effects.
Dr. Cathleen London, MD said, “Although the trial was small it was well designed and well conducted. Importantly, we know that cruciferous vegetables, fish oil, and lignans from flax and nuts are all thought to support healthy metabolism of estrogens, but people do not eat enough fresh cruciferous vegetables in their diet, making nutritional supplementation a viable option. Although this is a preliminary study, it adds to our scientific knowledge about the role of estrogens and their metabolism in the breast health of pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women.” Dr. London was not involved with this project.
Study shows a single shot of morphine has long lasting effects on testosterone levels
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A single injection of morphine to fight persistent pain in male rats is able to strongly reduce the hormone testosterone in the brain and plasma, according to a new paper published in Molecular Pain. The study, led by Anna Maria Aloisi, M.D., of the Department of Physiology – Section of Neuroscience and Applied Physiology at the University of Siena, Italy, Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia, University of Siena, and the Human Health Foundation in Spoleto, Italy, showed that opioids had “long lasting genomic effects in body areas which contribute to strong central and peripheral testosterone levels” including the brain, the liver and the testis.
The study showed increases in aromatase, an enzyme that is responsible for a key step in the biosynthesis of estrogen. The findings are particularly important since testosterone is the main substrate of aromatase, which is involved in the formation of estradiol. Both testosterone and estradiol are important hormones, engaged in cognitive functions as well as in mood, motor control and in many other functions, such as bone structure remodeling.
“Our lab became interested in gonadal hormones several years ago when it became clear that there were many differences in pain syndromes between the sexes,” says Dr. Aloisi. “In looking at differences, it was immediately apparent that these changes were introduced by different treatments, opioids in particular.”
Hormone therapy raises breast cancer deaths -study
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Women who took hormone replacement pills had more advanced breast cancers and were more likely to die from them than women who took a dummy pill, raising new concerns about the commonly prescribed drugs, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, is the first to report more breast cancer deaths among women taking hormone replacement therapy.
And it contradicts prior studies that suggest women taking the drugs had less aggressive, easier-to-treat breast cancers.
PBDE Flame Retardant Linked to Thyroid Hormone Levels in Pregnant Women
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The largest study yet to investigate exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants and pregnant women’s thyroid hormone levels correlates exposure to PBDEs with reduced levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and increased odds of subclinical hyperthyroidism.
“There is very clear evidence from animal studies that PBDEs affect thyroid hormones, but very few human studies have attempted to determine whether pregnant women’s PBDE levels can impact the developing fetus,” says the study’s lead author, Jonathan Chevrier of the University of California, Berkeley, Center for Children’s Environmental Health Research.
“A mother’s thyroid hormones affect her developing baby throughout her pregnancy, and they are essential for fetal brain development,” says coauthor Brenda Eskenazi, director of the Center for Children’s Environmental Health Research.
The Voices of Thyroid Disease
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Although many people haven’t heard of thyroid conditions like Graves’ disease or Hashimoto’s syndrome, thyroid problems are finally getting more attention.
The thyroid is a tiny gland in the neck that can sometimes make too much or too little of various hormones, causing a host of problems. President George Bush and his wife, Barbara, were both told they had thyroid conditions. In 2007, thyroid problems received the ultimate celebrity endorsement when Oprah Winfrey announced she was suffering from thyroid-related health issues.
In Wednesday’s Patient Voices feature, Karen Barrow, a New York Times producer, shares the stories of six men and women with thyroid disease. You’ll hear from Antonio Richardson, 25, of St. Paul, Minn., who was told he had Graves’ disease, which is rarely found in young men. He channeled his fears into music and now writes rap songs under the name A&R about living with chronic illness.
Stress hormones accelerate tumor growth
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Chronic stress has recently been implicated as a factor that may accelerate the growth of tumors. However, the mechanisms underlying this effect have not been determined. But now, Anil Sood and colleagues, at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, have generated data using human ovarian cancer cell lines and tumor specimens that indicate that stress hormones, especially norepinephrine and epinephrine, can contribute to tumor progression in patients with ovarian cancer. They therefore suggest that targeting stress hormones and the signaling pathways that they activate might be of benefit to individuals with cancer.
Anoikis is the process by which cells are triggered to die when separated from their surrounding matrix and neighboring cells. Tumor cells that spread to other sites somehow escape anoikis. In the study, exposure of human ovarian cancer cells lines to either of the stress hormones norepinephrine or epinephrine protected them from anoikis.
Stain repellent chemical linked to thyroid disease in adults
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A study by the University of Exeter and the Peninsula Medical School for the first time links thyroid disease with human exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). PFOA is a persistent organic chemical used in industrial and consumer goods including nonstick cookware and stain- and water-resistant coatings for carpets and fabrics.
Published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, The study revealed that people with higher concentrations of PFOA in their blood have higher rates of thyroid disease. The researchers analysed samples from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s nationally representative National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
Tamara Galloway, a professor Ecotoxicology at the University of Exeter and the study’s senior author, says: “Our results highlight a real need for further research into the human health effects of low-level exposures to environmental chemicals like PFOA that are ubiquitous in the environment and in people’s homes. We need to know what they are doing.”
Estrogen link in male aggression sheds new light on sex-specific behaviors
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Territorial behavior in male mice might be linked to more “girl-power” than ever suspected, according to new findings at UCSF. For the first time, researchers have identified networks of nerve cells in the brain that are associated with how male mice defend their territory and have shown that these cells are controlled by the female hormone estrogen.
The research suggests a pivotal role for estrogen – as well as the enzyme aromatase that is responsible for estrogen synthesis – in male territorial behavior, according to findings published in the October 2, 2009 issue of the journal Cell. The paper, based on research at UCSF and Fujita Health University, also appears online at http://www.cell.com.
Estrogen’s role in the mating behaviors of these mice, however, was less clear, which indicates that territorial and sexual behaviors are likely influenced by distinct and separate connections in the brain, according to Nirao Shah, MD, PhD, an assistant professor in the UCSF Department of Anatomy and senior author of the paper.
