Latest Female reproductive system Stories

New research by a team of scientists at the University of Cincinnati (UC) shows that bisphenol A (BPA) may be harmful for the heart, particularly in women.Results of several studies are being presented in Washington, D.C., at ENDO 09, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting, June 10-13.A research team lead by Scott Belcher, PhD, Hong Sheng Wang, PhD, and Jo El Schultz, PhD, in the department of pharmacology and cell biophysics, found that exposure to BPA and/or estrogen causes abnormal...

Exposure during pregnancy to the chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, found in many common plastic household items, is known to cause a fertility defect in the mother's offspring in animal studies, and now researchers have found how the defect occurs. The results of the new study will be presented Saturday at The Endocrine Society's 91st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.The study, funded partly by the National Institutes of Health, joins a growing body of animal research showing the toxic health...

The chemical bisphenol A, commonly found in many plastic household items, has been linked to yet another health problem in animals"”an increased frequency of arrhythmias, or heartbeat irregularities, a new study found. The results, seen only in females, will be presented Saturday at The Endocrine Society's 91st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.Past animal studies show that bisphenol A, or BPA, can have harmful effects on the reproductive, nervous and immune systems. Also, a study in humans...

Doctors have issued a warning for some female athletes. Unhealthy eating habits observed in ballerinas and runners can lead to health complications with long-lasting consequences.When females don't eat enough to offset the energy they spend, they can stop menstruating (amenorrhea), putting them at risk for cardiovascular and bone density deficits typical of older, postmenopausal women.Two separate studies examined the effects of amenorrhea on female athletes. The first focused on ballerinas,...

 The largest study of its kind to date shows that women may not be able to learn as well shortly before menopause compared to other stages in life. The research is published in the May 26, 2009, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.For a four-year period, researchers studied 2,362 women, who were between the ages of 42 and 52 had at least one menstrual period in the three months before the study started.The women were given three tests:...

Two enzymes called extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK1 and ERK2) are critical factors in a pathway that induces ovulation, maturation of the mammalian egg (oocyte) and other activities key to ovarian function and female fertility, said a group of researchers at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in a report that appears today in the journal Science."This finding could provide clues to developing new contraceptives and understanding infertility in some women with irregular...

Men with chronic heart failure who have either high or low levels of a certain type of estrogen may be at higher risk of death than those with normal levels.In a recent study conducted in Poland, researchers placed men with chronic heart failure into groups according to the level of estradiol, a form of estrogen, in their blood. During the study's three year follow up, men in the low-estradiol group had the highest death rate -- about four times higher than men with an average level of the...

The hormone estrogen plays a direct role in how the brain processes sounds, U.S. scientists said. The study, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, found estrogen is a key molecule carrying brain signals, and that the right balance of hormone levels in men and women is important for reasons beyond its role as a sex hormone. We've discovered estrogen doing something totally unexpected, lead study author Raphael Pinaud of New York's University of Rochester said in a statement. We show that...

A British psychologist says shopping therapy could be a way for premenstrual women to deal with the negative emotions created by hormonal changes. Study leader Karen Pine of the University of Hertfordshire asked 443 women ages 18-50 about their spending habits. Pine found that almost two-thirds of the 153 women studied who were in the later stages of their menstrual cycle admitted they had bought something on an impulse, while more than half said they had overspent by more than $35 -- and a...

Obesity associated with detrimental changes in ovaryObese women have alterations in their ovaries which might be responsible for an egg's inability to make an embryo, according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).Obese women trying to become pregnant experience longer times to conception, even if they are young and have a regular menstrual cycle. This study sought to determine if there are alterations in...