Kids and soda!
Do your kids drink soda? Do you? I stopped drinking it some time ago.
Ok, I’ll admit I’ll drink a Sprite now and then, usually if I am away from home and don’t have many other choices.
But its not good to drink it. Not good at all.
Its high in sugar and calories and low in nutrients.
Obesity and diabetes are two diseases that can result from too much sugar and excess calorie intake. Other possible health problems from drinking too much soda include caffeine dependence and bone weakening (from the phosphorus).
Even the sugar free and zero calorie stuff has its problems!
There is some real scary statistics concerning soda consumption - 56% of 8 year olds drink soda everyday and 60% of schools sell it!
Although there are now many schools are no longer selling it to kids.
If you have kids, do you let them drink it? Do you set a good example by not drinking it yourself? How do you keep kids from drinking it when you’re not around to stop them or they are too old to control what they drink?
April 24, 2006
Possible role of FSH in osteoporosis.
Follicle-stimulating hormone, usually abbreviated as FSH, is a hormone produced by the anterior pituitary. FSH stimulates immature follicles in the ovary to mature and to release estrogen.
Normally the ovary also responds to FSH by releasing inhibin, another hormone, which then results in a decrease in FSH levels - creating a sort of feedback system to regulate the levels of each other and other hormones such as estrogen. At menopause when estrogen levels fall, the pituitary starts releasing even more FSH as if it is trying to get the estrogen levels back to where they once were. Consequently, post-menopausal women have high levels of FSH.
Osteoporosis is pretty common in post menopausal women, when the amount of bone mass being broken down (resorbed) is greater than the amount of new bone being formed. It has long been believed that estrogen has a major role in this process since estrogen levels decrease after menopause and many of the molecules involved in the resorption of bone are affected by estrogen.
However some recent research now shows that FSH also plays a role in this bone loss. A group led by Mone Zaidi - a researcher at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City - has recently published a paper demonstrating this.
Earlier experiments by other groups showed that mice without estrogen activity only show a mild or no bone loss.
Mone Zaidi’s group showed that ”FSH stimulates the formation and function” of cells that resorb bone in female mice, and that FSH is necessary for this bone loss. They also showed that in mice without FSH receptors (FSH will not function as usual with no FSH receptors present), bone loss decreased compared to ovariectomized (no ovaries, no estrogen) mice. In addition they showed that the decrease in bone loss was not due to the FSH causing an increase in bone formation
So what does this all mean? In a nutshell - most of the bone loss after menopause is likely not due to the decreased levels of estrogen, but rather due to the increased levels of FSH. In the future medications that inhibit the activity of FSH could be used to prevent osteoporosis. Much more research will be needed first of course before a drug like that would be ready for human use - but this is a very big step in osteoporosis research!
This work of Zaidi’s has been published in the April 21, 2006 issue of Cell (Volume 125, Issue 2, pp. 247-260, titled: FSH Directly Regulates Bone Mass).
(Technorati Tags: osteoporosis, bone, health, FSH, women, research)
April 20, 2006
Improvement for Saudi women possible within the confines of Wahhabism?
I had a difficult time finding any women’s health news worth blogging about today and I ended up spending a lot of time reading an interview called Saudi Women: Breaking the Chains. It was from back in February but was still very interesting and worth reading if you haven’t seen it yet.
The person being interviewed is Moudhy Al-Rashid, a woman from Saudi Arabia who is going to school at Columbia University. She obviously is concerned about women’s rights, but seems content to work within the framework of Saudi law’s to better the position of women. It seems to me that much bigger changes will be needed if women in that country will ever be treated even close to equal to men.
Moudhy Al-Rashid doesn’t seem to want to admit that women in Saudi Arabia are victims, even though all women there are prevented from exercising even the most basic of rights.
I have to wonder is she defending Saudi laws and sharia because she is afraid to do otherwise? It is even safe for a Saudi women, even while in the US, to be interviewed on a web site and speak out againstSaudi laws and sharia?
The interview is divided over two pages, so be sure to click the link at the bottom of the page to see the second part. The comments are interesting also.
I should point out that the site the interview is on seems, at a glance anyway, to express a very conservative viewpoint which in general does not reflect my own views. I tended to side with the interviewer in this case though.
April 18, 2006
Another alternative for high risk, post-menopausal women to prevent breast cancer.
The big news in breast cancer research this week (so far anyway) is the results of a new study that shows a drug used to treat or prevent osteoporosis can also reduce the risk of breast cancer.
This study called ‘Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene’ or ‘STAR’ involved close to 20,000 post-menopausal women. These women were randomly assign to be in one of two groups. One group were given tamoxifen - used to treat women with estrogen-receptor-positive cancer and to prevent it in high risk women - the other raloxifene. Raloxifene is sold by Eli Lilly as Evista and is used to treat and prevent osteoporosis. The study lasted five years.
The results show that women taking raloxifene reduced their chances of getting invasive breast cancer by 50%, about the same amount of protection as taking tamoxifen.
Both drugs, tamoxifen and raloxifene, are ’selective estrogen response modulators’ which behave like estrogen in some parts of the body, but not in others.
The women in the raloxifene group tended to have less side effects than the women in the other group.
Raloxifene has not be approved by the FDA to be used to prevent cancer, but Eli Lilly will most likely petition the FDA so that it can be used by high-risk, post-menopausal women to reduce their risk of developing breast cancer.
(Technorati Tags: breast cancer, raloxifene, tamoxifen, estrogen)
Blog to Raise Awareness About Sexual Violence
I’m really not sure what to write about today for this, but I really want to participate because it is such an important issue.I haven’t personally been a victim of any sort of sexual violence, and have never talked to anyone has who has been about their experiences.
I only know that crimes like rape scare me to death. And I don’t understand it. I don’t understand why so many men are so violent, in general, and especially towards women.
I’m especially horrified by the type of violence many women, mostly in non-western countries, have to experience regularly.
These include: female genital mutilation - which is just so horrible to even think about on even a superficial level; dowry murder - 15,000 dowry deaths estimated to take place each year in India; honour killings - where members of a woman’s own family kills her because she was a victim of rape and much more.
In many cases the violence seems to reflect a general lack of men even considering women to be real people, but instead just a piece of property they can do what they want with. Or mutilating women’s bodies so that they either become somewhat helpless (as in foot binding) or unable to experience normal pleasurable feelings. Or they involve women’s virginity or the possible lack of it.
So what causes this horrible behavior in men and what can be done about it?
It seems to take place all over the world - or at least has in the past - so it is hard to blame it on any particular religion or culture.
One possible cause - which may not be a popular one - is that men (not all, but most) are just naturally violent and aggressive. Can they change? I think so - I certainly hope so. I have no idea how.
Or maybe we are just still too primitive a species. Violent and aggressive behaviors are maybe part of our evolutionary past that we still need to confront, learn about and move beyond.
Or maybe in general, we are just a violent species. Maybe if there is intelligent life in the universe somewhere they are avoiding us because we are so primitive and violent. I wouldn’t blame them if that is the case.
And still, women all over the world are sufferering due to violence perpetrated against them everyday.
April 14, 2006
Estrogen-receptor-positive or estrogen-receptor-negative?
Breast cancer can be either estrogen-receptor-positive or estrogen-receptor-negative. Estrogen-receptor-positive cancer is made worse by the presence of estrogen, while estrogen has no effect on estrogen-receptor-negative cancer. Around 70% of breast cancers in women are estrogen-receptor-positive.
Some recent research has shown that chemotherapy is more helpful for women with estrogen-receptor-negative (ER - negative) cancer and that hormonal therapy, such as the use of drugs like tamoxifen helps those who are estrogen-receptor-positive.
Previously it was believed that any breast cancer larger than a centimeter should be treated with chemotherapy. But this new information about ER - negative and positive cancers over the past couple of years suggest that may not always be true.
This most recent study was published in the April 12th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. In a simplified summary - in 3 different clinical trials done in the 1980’s and 90’s different chemotherapy drugs were used to treat cancer. At the time ER - negative and positive was not yet understood to be important so women with both types of cancer were included in all the trials. Looking back at the data researchers discovered that the women who benefitted the most from the chemotherapy were those who wereestrogen-receptor-negative.
In the future this means that women who have ER - negative or positive cancers will be given different treatments - those who are ER - positive may or may not have any chemotherapy, etc. More research will have to be done to determine the best course of treatment in both cases.
(Technorati Tags: breast cancer, estrogen, chemotherapy, estrogen-receptor)
April 13, 2006
Ovarian cancer news review
This is my first post about ovarian cancer. I had planned to include it from the beginning, but wanted to wait a while in part because it is so scary. It is not something I’ve read much about yet, so this first post will just be a brief and general overview and review of the lastest news about ovarian cancer that has been released recently.
There is about a 1 in 58 chance for a woman to get ovarian cancer. Most women who do get it, get it after menopause.
As I’m sure you all know, there is not yet a routine way to detect ovarian cancer when it is in its early stages. Most of the symptoms are vague and only about 20% of ovarian cancers are caught early. Unfortunately this means that by the time someone has obvious symptoms and the cancer is found it may be too late to do much to help. However, if it is diagnosed early, over 90% of people can be treated pretty effectively.
Much research is being done though to help find a way to detect it earlier. Potential methods include a blood test to detect proteins that act as markers for the disease. Recently some researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine presented their findings on a study they did that screened blood samples of ovarian cancer patients for the presence of proteins that might indicate they have the disease.
These researchers tested 450 blood samples and found 20 proteins they could use to distinguish 98% of those with ovarian cancer from those without it. They hope that in a few years this test will be further developed to be able to be used to screen for the cancer.
There is also some evidence found just recently of a protein found in urine that might indicate presence of the cancer. [Somewhat OT - the protein is Bcl-2 - I did my prelim in graduate school about Bcl-2 and apoptosis. That was some years ago though and I am not up-to-date on research of Bcl-2, but I will try to follow up on this research.]
So, what can we do meanwhile? All the same things we are always told to do, but can be difficult at times: eat right and stay fit!
One new study shows that women who have a higher than average level of dietary flavonoids might have a lower chance of getting ovarian cancer. Foods high in flavonoids include tea, red wine, soybeans, fruits and vegetables. And recently one new study came out that showed that adding ginger to ovarian cancer cell cultures would cause the cells to die. Whether or not ginger has an effect on ovarian cancer cells in an actual live person is not known.
(Hmm, last weekend I bought some ginger and tofu and vegetables to stir fry - but I’ve been too lazy to get around to doing it! I guess I know what I will be eating tonight! Unless I get to feeling lazy again and grab something fast instead!)
(Technorati Tags: ovarian cancer, women, research)
April 11, 2006
New treatments for osteoporosis on the way!
- a transdermal patch to deliver human Parathyroid Hormone 1-34 fragment (hPTH 1-34) to treat osteoporosis just finished its first human clinical trial. Currently hPTH 1-34 is given as a injection only. This patch is being devloped by TransPharma Medical Ltd - it uses a radio frequency (RF)-micro channel technology. This system involves a handheld battery control unit, a microelectrode array and a patch with the medication. The radio frequency waves open microchannels in the skin for the drug to be delivered through.
- a generic nasal spray of calcitonin-salmon - (if I understand this right, the spray has already been approved by the FDA, but the company that makes it now has another facility approved to manufacture it. ) . At any rate, the company - Nastech Pharmaceutical Co. - will be making a generic version of the spray which has been around for a while.
- a new injectable drug for the treatment and prevention of osteoporosis. Denosumab injections were found to be safe and effective as an oral bisphosphonate. Denosumab is a fully human monoclonal antibody and works by binding to and inhibiting the activity of RANKL (receptor activator of nuclear factor-kB ligand). RANKL is involved with the activation of bone-resorbing osteoclast cells. Denosumab is being developed by Amgen and the results of its open-label multicenter phase II study of 412 postmenopausal women was reported in the February 23 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine
- Reveromycin A - this one has quite a ways to go yet, but a promising discovering by Riken (a research institute in Japan) shows that reveromycin A can inhibit bone loss in mice. Reveromycin A is secondary metabolite Streptomyces sp. SN-593 which is a type of soil actinomycete. It can induce the apoptosis (cell death) of osteoclast cells. Their results will be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
(Technorati Tags: osteoporosis., calcitonin, women)
April 10, 2006
Breast cancer and the environment
Some new studies present evidence that as much as 50% of breast cancers are not caused by genetic factors - or lifestyle choices such as drinking.
Instead, it is believed by many that environmental factors may contribute to many cases of breast cancer. And some of these environmental factors are items that we encounter on a daily basis.
Estrogen mimicking substances are one of the leading suspects. These include: Bisphenol-A (BPA) - used to make some plastics and Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), also used in many plastics.
Other environmental substances associated with greater cancer risk are aromatic amines (tobacco smoke, diesel exhaust, grilled meats, polluted air and water), 1,3-butadiene (internal combustion engines, petroleum refineries tobacco smoke), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (fuel combustion), dioxin, heptachlor (an insecticide), some herbicides (atrazine, simazine, cyanazine) , Phthalates (plastics, nail polish, perfumes, skin moisturizers, flavorings, solvents) and many more.
While it is true that much of these dangers are suspected through correlational research - which doesn’t prove causation - it is still important that these substances are more thoroughly tested.
Meanwhile, since we can’t avoid all of these substances, it is best to not panic and wait for more research results - but still avoid unnecessary exposure to known carcingens whenever possible.
This report was put together by two organizations based in San Francisco: Breast Cancer Action and Breast Cancer Fund.
(Technorati Tags: breast cancer, estrogen, health, research, women)
