Latest Endocrine Society Stories

Study finds working in shifts associated with elevated levels of stress hormone cortisol A recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) found that shift work at a young age is associated with elevated long-term cortisol levels and increased BMI. Previous studies have shown that long-term elevated cortisol levels lead to increased abdominal obesity, hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular risk. Shift work,...

Study finds that obesity's impact on incidence of hot flashes may depend on age A recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) found that among women aged 60 and above, heavier women have fewer hot flashes than their leaner counterparts. The inverse association between body size and hot flashes was observed only among the older women. In the last decade, research on perimenopausal women has shown that heavier...

Elevated sex hormone levels associated with chronic disease risk A recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) found that postmenopausal women who smoke have higher androgen and estrogen levels than non-smoking women, with sex hormone levels being highest in heavy smokers. Previous studies have shown that high levels of estrogens and androgens are potential risk factors for breast and endometrial cancer as...

Study shows building muscle can lower person's risk of insulin resistanceA recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) found that the greater an individual's total muscle mass, the lower the person's risk of having insulin resistance, the major precursor of type 2 diabetes.With recent dramatic increases in obesity worldwide, the prevalence of diabetes, a major source of cardiovascular morbidity, is expected to...

Study suggests US Dietary Guideline for upper limit of sugar consumption is too highA recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) found that adults who consumed high fructose corn syrup for two weeks as 25 percent of their daily calorie requirement had increased blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, which have been shown to be indicators of increased risk for heart disease.The American Heart Association...

PCOS is most common cause of infertility in womenA recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) found that early, prolonged treatment with the diabetes drug metformin may prevent or delay the development of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in adolescence.PCOS affects 7 to 10 percent of women of childbearing age and is the most common cause of infertility, affecting an estimated 5 to 6 million women in the United...

Diabetes leaders today are responding to the announcement made by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday that the use of the diabetes medication Actos (pioglitazone) for more than one year may be associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer. According to the FDA's Safety Announcement, information about this risk will be added to the Warnings and Precautions section of the label for pioglitazone-containing medicines. The patient Medication Guide for these medicines will...

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- It's not just skin and bones! Wrinkles may be able to predict a woman's bone fracture risk, according to this study. The severity and distribution of skin wrinkles and overall skin quality could tell the story of bone mineral density in early menopausal women.The findings were presented this month at the Endocrine Society Meeting in Boston, Mass., by Lubna Pal, associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Science at Yale School of...

Obesity among people who eat a high-fat diet may involve injury to neurons, or nerve cells, in a key part of the brain that controls body weight, according to the authors of a new animal study. The results will be presented Tuesday at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston."The possibility that brain injury may be a consequence of the overconsumption of a typical American diet offers a new explanation for why sustained weight loss is so difficult for most obese individuals...

Women who gain too much weight during pregnancy tend to have newborns with a high amount of body fat, regardless of the mother's weight before pregnancy, a new study finds. The results will be presented Tuesday at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston.High fat at birth is a possible risk factor for childhood obesity, said the study's principal investigator, Jami Josefson, MD, a pediatric endocrinologist at Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital and assistant professor at...