Aurora, Colo. (Oct. 19, 2010) — Estrogen therapy used by menopausal women causes a type of ovarian cancer to grow five times faster, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Colorado Cancer Center.
Menopausal estrogen replace…
In women with metabolic syndrome, blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) can help predict cardiovascular risk, researchers reported today in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. CRP is an indicator of inflammation. High levels of CRP have been linked to increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and type 2 (non-insulin dependent) diabetes.
The federal government today published its biennial Report on Carcinogens, adding steroidal estrogens used in estrogen replacement therapy and oral contraceptives to its official list of “known” human carcinogens. This and 15 other new listings bring the total of substances in the report, “known” or “reasonably anticipated” to pose a cancer risk, to 228. Among the other new additions: wood dust and ultraviolet light.
For estrogen to enhance learning and memory, nerve cells in the brain called cholinergic neurons are essential to the process, suggest animal studies performed by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. “Estrogen replacement in postmenopausal women has important effects on mood and cognition. This research was focused on trying to understand what estrogen does in the brain to reduce the effects on brain aging and cognitive decline,” said Robert Gibbs, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy.