Little evidence linking HRT to heart risk in menopausal women

November 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study from the Sahlgrenska Academy has shown that women who store fat on their waist in middle age are more than twice as likely to develop dementia when they get older. "Anyone carrying a lot of fat around the middle is at greater risk of dying prematurely due to a heart attack or stroke," said Deborah Gustafson, senior lecturer at the Sahlgrenska Academy.

November 19th, 2009 LONDON - Here's a shocker: Supping large amounts of booze is good for the heart - but only when it comes to men. The study, which monitored more than 41,000 people aged between 29 and 69, showed that drinking alcohol could cut the risk of heart disease by almost a third in men.

November 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Flibanserin, originally an anti-depressant, has shown promise in treating low libido among women, according to results from three separate clinical trials. These trials were the first ever to test a therapy that works at the level of the brain to enhance libido in women reporting low sexual desire, said John M.

November 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Smoking can increase a person's risk of developing Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, say researchers. Lead researcher and neurologist Dr.

November 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A simple blood test could soon determine if a women is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, long before any signs of illness, concludes a new study. A thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, found that middle-aged women with high levels of a specific amino acid in their blood are twice as likely to suffer from Alzheimer's many years later-a discovery that could lead to a new and simple way of determining who is at risk much before any symptoms of the disease.

October 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Symptoms of heart attack in women are not very different from those in men, according to a new study. The research was presented to the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2009, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society.

October 20th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A right mix of estrogen and a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM), which blocks the effects of estrogen in breast tissue, can significantly reduce breast cancer risk in menopausal women, say researchers Women in menopause who have symptoms are currently treated with a combination of estrogen plus progestin hormone therapy, however this treatment comes with side effects, including a higher risk of breast cancer caused by the progestin. Yale researchers sought to determine a better way of administering hormone therapy without the breast cancer risk.

October 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A Cochrane Systematic Review suggests that B-vitamin supplements should not be recommended for prevention of heart disease because they do not reduce the risk of developing or dying from the disease. "There is no evidence to support the use of B-vitamins as supplements for reducing the risk of heart attack, stroke or death associated with cardiovascular disease," says Arturo Martí-Carvajal, of the Iberoamerican Cochrane Network in Valencia, Venezuela.

October 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Vitamin B pills don't cut down the risk of heart disease, says a new study. "There is no evidence to support the use of Vitamin B as supplements for reducing the risk of heart attack, stroke or death associated with cardiovascular disease," says lead researcher Arturo Mart-Carvajal of the Iberoamerican Cochrane Network in Valencia, Venezuela.

October 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study suggests that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may worsen incontinence in postmenopausal women. "Our main finding, which comes in particular from one huge trial, is that one type of HRT - systemic conjugated equine estrogen (CEE) - may make urinary incontinence worse," said June Cody, a methodologist at the Cochrane Incontinence Review Group at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.

September 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Reviewing studies conducted in the past, cardiac experts at Rush University Medical Center have found that women are more likely than men to experience symptomatic attacks, a higher frequency of recurrences, and significantly higher heart rates during atrial fibrillation, which increases the risk of stroke. During atrial fibrillation, the heart's atria, which are two small upper chambers, quiver instead of beating effectively.

September 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Three drugs have been found to cut women's chances of contracting breast cancer, but each of them has distinct potential harms of its own, says a report. Issued by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the report reveals that the three drugs are tamoxifen, raloxifene, and tibolone.

September 5th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Men and women whose thighs are less than 60 cm in circumference have a higher risk of premature death and heart disease, says a new study. Berit Heitmann, based at Copenhagen University Hospital, says his research may help doctors identify patients who are at an increased risk of early death and developing heart disease.

September 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Dietary supplements may not be effective in halting bone loss in post-menopausal women, says a new study. "We found that some plant-derived isoflavones have a modest effect on suppressing bone loss post menopause, but more concerning is many dietary supplements that claim to have the power of oestrogen do not," said Connie Weaver, who led the study.

September 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - A study conducted in Canada has reinforced the correlation between being overweight, smoking and breast cancer. Published in the Journal of Cancer Epidemiology, the study is unique because it did not include subjects who were diagnosed for BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations, which predispose women to breast cancer.