estrogen

(Medical College of Georgia) Estrogen's action in the brain is the focus of a special August issue of Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology co-edited by Dr.

Darrell W. Brann, Regents Professor of Neurology and associate director of the Institute of Neuroscience at the Medical College of Georgia.

Estrogen therapy may limit stroke damage if started close to, but not long after reproductive cycles are over, according to a new animal study.

Postmenopausal women taking hormone therapy appear to have an increased risk of stroke regardless of when they started treatment, according to a new report.

Compared to women who had never used hormones, women currently taking hormone therapy had an increased risk for stroke (39 percent for those taking estrogen and 27 percent for those taking estrogen with progestin).

As the major source of free radicals in cells, mitochondria contribute to the high levels of oxidative stress believed to play a role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.

Now a study demonstrates that estrogen reduces this oxidative stress caused by the mitochondria while increasing the ability of the mitochondria to generate energy -- important since there is usually an energy deficit in the Alzheimer brain.

As the major source of free radicals in cells, mitochondria contribute to the high levels of oxidative stress believed to play a role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.

Now a study demonstrates that estrogen reduces this oxidative stress caused by the mitochondria while increasing the ability of the mitochondria to generate energy -- important since there is usually an energy deficit in the Alzheimer brain.

A follow up study of participants in the Women's Health Initiative clinical trial has found that women who were taking the combined hormone therapy of estrogen plus progestin may have an increased risk of cancer since the intervention was stopped, compared to participants in the trial's placebo group.

Although rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is more predominant in women, the reasons for this are unclear. Many studies have examined the effects of estrogen on the risk and severity of RA, but the results are conflicting and controversial.

A new study using data from the Women's Health Initiative clinical trials on hormone replacement therapy found that there were no significant differences in the risk of developing RA or the severity of RA between postmenopausal women who were on hormone replacement therapy and those who took placebos.