News by Subject Medicine & Health

Less than one-third of COVID-19 clinical trials are led by women, which is half the proportion observed in non-COVID-19 trials, according to research led by Queen Mary University of London, University of St Andrews, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Women who experience an accelerated accumulation of abdominal fat during menopause are at greater risk of heart disease, even if their weight stays steady, according to a new analysis. The study--based on a quarter century of data collected on hundreds of women--indicates that measuring waist circumference during preventive health care appointments for midlife women could be a better early indicator of heart disease risk than weight or BMI.

More than five years after receiving an experimental immunotherapy drug, half of a group of people at high risk of developing Type 1 diabetes remained disease-free compared with 22% of those who received a placebo, according to a new trial overseen by Yale School of Medicine researchers.

CLEVELAND, Ohio (March 3, 2021)--The loss of estrogen after menopause is associated with rapid bone loss. A new study compared the bone health outcomes in women with primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) and early menopause with women who experienced menopause at the standard age to confirm the association between POI and osteoporosis. Study results are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS).

CLEVELAND, Ohio (March 3, 2021)--The length of the female reproductive period (the time from the onset of menses to the final menstrual period) has important health implications. A new study compared the length of reproductive periods for women with type 1 diabetes with women without diabetes to confirm the effect diabetes has on the female reproductive system. Study results are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS).

Endocrine disruptors (EDs) are hormone-like substances that can have undesirable effects on health. For example, chemicals can increase the risk of breast cancer if they act in a manner similar to the female sex hormone oestrogen. Animal experiments are still required to detect the hormonal effects of chemical substances. A test has now been developed at the German Centre for the Protection of Laboratory Animals (Bf3R) that tests the effects of hormones on cultured human cells.

Molecules called microRNAs (miRNAs) that are measurable in urine have been identified by researchers at Mount Sinai as predictors of both heart and kidney health in children without disease. The epidemiological study of Mexican children was published in February in the journal Epigenomics.

A study led by IMIM examines whether all so-called good cholesterol (HDL) particles have a cardiovascular protective effect. Traditionally, HDL cholesterol has been associated with a reduced risk of heart disease, but there are doubts as to whether all the particles have a protective effect. The work shows that people with large HDL particles have an increased risk of myocardial infarction, while only small HDL particles are actually associated with decreased risk.

Puberty looks different, in terms of both reproductive hormones and breast maturation, in girls with excess total body fat, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.