News by Subject Social & Behavior

Smell and taste are vital senses that bring pleasure to daily life, inform us about our environment, and guide fundamental behaviors in humans and animals. This month, about 500 scientists and clinicians will gather for the nation's leading forum on smell and taste research, the annual meeting of the Association for Chemoreception Sciences (AChemS). AChemS will feature over 260 presentations on the roles of smell and taste in both human and animal health.

Less than half of women who filled a statin prescription following a heart attack received a high-intensity statin -- indicating they continue to be less likely than men to be prescribed this lifesaving treatment, according to a study published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The persistent gap in heart disease treatment between women and men continues despite similar effectiveness of more-intensive statins for both sexes and recent efforts to reduce sex difference in guideline-recommended treatment.

Women who believe that their sex drive will change over time are better able to handle difficulties with sexual desire, according to a study from the University of Waterloo.

In one of the largest and most diverse studies of transgender youths to date, researchers led by a team at the University of Texas at Austin have found that when transgender youths are allowed to use their chosen name in places such as work, school and at home, their risk of depression and suicide drops.

Testosterone therapy is not associated with a rise in estrogen levels among transgender men, according to a new study led by Boston Medical Center (BMC). In fact, the researchers observed an initial decline in estrogen levels, which later stabilized and remained within the normal range during the study's six-year period.

While legal abortions in the US are safe, the likelihood that women will receive the type of abortion services that best meet their needs varies considerably depending on where they live, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. In addition, the report notes, the vast majority of abortions can be provided safely in office-based settings.

A major international survey has found that around a quarter of patients are not receiving the recommended treatment for cancer of the penis. It also found that these patients had half the survival rate of those who were treated according to guidelines. The study, presented at the EAU conference in Copenhagen, finds that non-adherence is partly due to patients refusing treatment, or doctors being reluctant to treat appropriately or being unfamiliar with the best procedures.

Researchers from the UCLA School of Nursing examined clinical records and magnetic resonance imaging brain scans of patients who were recently diagnosed with sleep apnea, and discovered several apparent connections between thinning of the brain's cerebral cortex and apnea symptoms.