Binge drinking affects male and female brains differently, here’s why

While binge drinking affects the health of both males and females, the effect of gene expression in an area of the brain linked to addiction was found to be different, finds a new study. Repeated binge drinking was found to significantly alter molecular pathways in the nucleus accumbens — a region of the brain linked to addiction. But, in females, the genes linked to hormone signalling and immune function are altered, whereas in males genes related to nerve signalling are affected. The study has significant implications for the treatment of alcohol use…

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Female athletes often suffer from eating disorders. A simple estrogen therapy can help them

Young female athletes with normal weight and no or irregular menstrual periods reported fewer disordered eating behaviours after receiving estrogen therapy for a year, a recent study has found. “Female athletes with exercise-induced menstrual dysfunction (associated with low estrogen levels) often have disordered eating behavior, which may impact their reproductive and bone health,” said lead researcher Madhusmita Misra of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Mass. “Our findings underscore the relationship between estrogen and disordered eating behavior, and the potential of estrogen replacement as a treatment target, not just in athletes,…

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3-D Printed Ovaries Can Help Restore Fertility in Female Cancer Survivors

In its one-of-a-kind discovery, experts at the Northwestern University in America were able to successfully implant 3-dimensional ovaries in female mice. These bioprosthetic ovaries housed immature eggs and were able to produce healthy offspring in mice. “Using bioengineering, instead of transplanting from a cadaver – to create organ structures that function and restore the health of that tissue for that person – is the holy grail of bioengineering for regenerative medicine,” noted Teresa K Woodruff, from Northwestern’s Women’s Health Research Institute in the US.   The team created biological hydrogel…

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Female doctors better at treating elderly, finds Harvard study

Female doctors are better than male doctors in treating elderly patients in hospitals, according to a new study led by researchers from Harvard University. They found that chances of patients dying or getting readmitted in the next 30 days went down if the doctors were women. It is the first time that a study has documented how male and female physicians’ treatment leads to different outcomes for patients in the U.S. The researchers estimated that if male physicians could achieve the same outcomes as their female colleagues, there would be…

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46 per cent female cancer patients in India are below 50: Doctors

Forty-six per cent of women suffering from cancer are under 50, a worrying trend that’s likely to continue in the coming years due to lifestyle changes, said doctors. Late marriages, multiple sex partners and late pregnancy have contributed to incidence of cancer among women, of which breast and cervical cancers are the commonest forms, they said. “Two per cent of the Indian women suffering from cancer are in 20 to 30 years age group, 16 per cent are in 30 to 40, 28 per cent are in 40 to 50…

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Male and Female Caffeine Consumption ups Miscarriage Risk: Study

Women have an increased risk of miscarriage if they or their partner consume more than two caffeinated drinks a day in the weeks leading up to conception, a new US study found. Women who drink more than two caffeinated beverages per day during the first seven weeks of pregnancy were also more likely to have a miscarriage, according to the study published online in the journal Fertility and Sterility. But rates of miscarriage are reduced for women who take a daily multivitamin before and after conception. The study, carried out…

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