Author: brigitte

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Breakthrough in the Understanding of Embryonic Stem Cells

brigitte

ScienceDaily (Nov. 30, 2012) — A significant breakthrough in the understanding of embryonic stem cells has been made by scientists from the Smurfit Institute of Genetics at Trinity College Dublin. The Trinity research group led by Dr Adrian Bracken and funded by Science Foundation Ireland, has just published their findings in the journal, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.

The new research describes the process whereby genes that are ‘on’ in embryonic stem cells are switched ‘off’. This process is essential in order to convert embryonic stem cells into different cell types such as neurons, blood or heart cells and therefore represents an important breakthrough in the area of regenerative medicine.

The research encompasses both embryonic stem cell research and epigenetics. Embryonic stem cell research is focused on a particular type of cell that is capable of generating the various tissues in the body; for example, muscle, heart or brain. It is particularly relevant due to its potential for regenerating diseased tissues and organs and for the treatment of a variety of conditions including Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and spinal cord injury. Read full article.

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Study links relaxation method to reduced hot flashes

brigitte

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Although studies of the effects of relaxation techniques on menopause symptoms have yielded mixed results so far, a new report from Sweden comes down in favor of the approach as an alternative to hormone therapy.

Postmenopausal women trained to relax before and during the onset of hot flashes cut the frequency of those events in half during the three-month trial, researchers say. Women in a comparison group that got no treatments experienced little change in their symptoms.

“The results tell you that, yes, this seems to work,” said Kim Innes of West Virginia University, who has studied mind-body therapies for menopause symptoms but was not involved in the new study. “This was a moderate-sized trial that yielded promising – although not definitive – findings regarding the efficacy of applied relaxation,” she told Reuters Health.

In a review of more than a dozen previous clinical trials involving mediation, yoga and Tai Chi therapies, Innes concluded that these techniques may hold promise for relieving menopause symptoms, but it’s too soon to tell. Read full article.

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The Unrecognized Pain Of Endometriosis

brigitte

I was so moved by this interview with the extraordinary writer Hilary Mantel, particularly as she discussed her lifelong battle with endometriosis and the toll the condition has taken on her body and her life.

(It’s a condition that often strikes teenage girls who frequently are too shy or embarrassed to speak out about their pain, and so the illness can remain undiagnosed for years.)

Mantel tells Terry Gross that even as she suffered with the pain, doctors told her “it was all in my mind.” Read full article.

Photo credit:  Chris Boland

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Hot flashes may return after ending antidepressant

brigitte

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – For about a third of women taking antidepressants to treat menopause symptoms, hot flashes and night sweats will return after discontinuing the drug, according to a new study.

“It’s important for people to understand that…the benefit of the treatment is related to the duration of the treatment,” said Dr. Hadine Joffe, lead author of the study. But that shouldn’t discourage women from trying an antidepressant if they want to, she added.

“Just because symptoms come back after you stop it doesn’t mean it didn’t make a big difference when you took it,” said Joffe, who is an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and director of research in the Center for Women’s Mental Health at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Escitalopram, an antidepressant sold under the brand name Lexapro, is not approved to treat menopause symptoms, but physicians may prescribe it because some – though not all – studies have found it can reduce the number and severity of hot flashes.

It has “a moderate effect,” Joffe told Reuters Health. “The drug does not eliminate hot flashes, but it can make “a very meaningful improvement in somebody’s life.”

Antidepressants of the same type as Lexapro, called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), are also used to treat menopause symptoms. Read full article.

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Promising Solution To Revitalizing Aging Egg Cells

brigitte

An Ottawa scientist has discovered a critical reason why women experience fertility problems as they get older. The breakthrough by Dr. Johne Liu, a senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and professor at the University of Ottawa, also points to a simple solution that could increase the viability of egg cells for women in their late 30s and older – putrescine water.

In an online editorial published by Agingbased on his recently published findings, Liu outlines how a simple program of drinking water or taking a pill that contains the naturally occurring compound putrescine could reduce the rate at which middle-aged women produce eggs with the incorrect number of chromosomes, the leading cause of reduced fertility and increases in miscarriages and congenital birth defects.

Putrescine is naturally produced in mammals by an enzyme called ornithine decarboxylase,or ODC, and is easily absorbed and cleared by the body. In female mammals, ODC levels are known to rise during ovulation, when the egg cell matures and is released from the ovary. Dr. Liu has shown that ODC levels rise very little in older females. He has also shown that inhibiting ODC levels in young mice leads to an increase in egg cells with chromosomal defects. Read full article.

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Testosterone Viagra Not A Winning Combination For Erectile Dysfunction

brigitte

Using a testosterone gel in addition to Viagra doesn’t make the little blue pill work any better, according to a new study.

The report’s lead researcher said testosterone is typically prescribed to men who have both low testosterone levels and symptoms such as little interest in sex or low bone and muscle mass. But, “there’s a tremendous amount of clinical judgment” that goes into that, said Dr. Matthew Spitzer, from the Boston University School of Medicine. “People are certainly being prescribed and using these medications at increasing amounts.”

According to Spitzer, studies have suggested that about one-quarter to one-third of men with erectile dysfunction, or ED, also have low testosterone. There’s a range in part because doctors and researchers don’t all agree on where the cutoff should be for low levels of the male sex hormone. Read full article.

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Genetic Screening Can Uncover Risky Matches at the Sperm Bank

brigitte

Within the next year, women choosing a sperm donor may be able to use a genetic-analysis service that identifies those with DNA that could cause disease if combined with their own.

Sperm donors are already screened for a handful of genetic conditions, and recipients can choose between donors based on qualities such as height, athleticism, and education. A more detailed analysis of how donor DNA would combine with the recipient’s DNA would be the next step.

A company called GenePeeks will use DNA-scanning microarrays, which are cheaper to use than whole-genome sequencing, to examine the roughly 250,000 DNA bases in the genomes of sperm-bank clients and donors. The company will then use what’s known about how DNA is mixed and divided during egg and sperm formation to compute thousands of virtual child genomes. Each of these virtual genomes will then be analyzed for disease risks. Donors that produced virtual babies that inherited a genetic disease can then be excluded. Read full article.

 

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Strong Action Needed to Combat Toxic Policies

brigitte

{WOMENSENEWS}–Over bagels and coffee last month, Drs. Linda Giudice and Tracey Woodruff flashed graphs and charts for female activists and philanthropists assembled at an upscale San Francisco hotel.

The meeting was hosted by a nonprofit that was commemorating the 50th anniversary of “Silent Spring,” Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking book on how pollution can affect human health.

Giudice and Woodruff had plenty to say about that. Using research they have compiled through their work at the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment at the University of California in San Francisco, they discussed how bisphenol A in plastic, phthalates in makeup and other common chemicals can trigger health problems, including cancer in women and reproductive troubles in the children they bear. Read full article.

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Our Infertile Years

brigitte

My husband flicked the syringe to remove the air bubbles. Aside from hipsters lounging at candlelit tables across the street, the sidewalks were clear. If we worked together, I could shoot up before anyone walked by. By the glow of the dome light, I pulled up my shirt, unbuttoned my pants and swiped an alcohol pad across my stomach while he prepared the injection.

I held my breath, and he plunged the needle in my belly, ringed with the bruises that marked his love for me. For an upcoming fertility treatment, I had to inject myself that evening, during the hours I attended a book reading in Los Feliz. By the time my husband and I left the reception — where the two of us going into the house’s sole bathroom would have perplexed guests – it was too late to wait until we returned home. Read full article.

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An Ethics Debate Over Embryos on the Cheap

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Dr. Ernest Zeringue was looking for a niche in the cutthroat industry of fertility treatments. He seized on price, a huge obstacle for many patients, and in late 2010 began advertising a deal at his Davis, Calif., clinic unheard of anywhere else: Pregnancy for $9,800 or your money back.

That’s about half the price for in vitro fertilization at many other clinics, which do not include money-back guarantees. Typically, insurance coverage is limited and patients pay again and again until they give birth — or give up.

Those patients use their own eggs and sperm — or carefully select donors when necessary — and the two are combined in a petri dish to create a batch of embryos. Usually one or two are then transferred to the womb. Any embryos left over are the property of the customers. Read full article.