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New research shows that treating rheumatoid arthritis with hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) reduced the risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, especially in women and men who are 50 years old and younger. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune inflammatory disease marked by chronic joint inflammation leading to joint damage and loss of function. It can also affect tissues and organs outside the joints, including the eyes, heart, and lungs. Although not a classic complication of RA, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD or MAFLD), is prevalent among RA patients, affecting about 35% of men and 22% of women. The researchers drew on...

Do we know if estrogen in the water supply is a significant problem? What are its major sources? How does this relate to morality and politics? Some research:► The next abortion fight could be over wastewater regulation Abortion opponents plan to use environmental laws to curb access to pills used to terminate an early pregnancy. The new approach comes as the pills mifepristone and misoprostol, which people can take at home during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, have become the most common method of abortion in the U.S. and virtually the only option for millions of people in states...

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals, also known as EDCs, are natural or human-made substances that interfere with the healthy functioning of the body’s endocrine system. The endocrine system is made up of glands throughout the body, along with the hormones that these glands produce and receptors that respond to the hormones. Endocrine glands include the pituitary, thymus, pancreas and adrenals. Hormones act like messengers, traveling through the body to deliver instructions that control biological processes ranging from growth and development to sleep, digestion and childbirth. Humans have more than 50 hormones. These include estrogen and testosterone, which help to control sexual development, as...

Whether hormone therapy (HT) can be linked to an increased risk of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) has been debated for years. A new systematic review and meta-analysis attempts to resolve the controversy, suggesting that there is a significant association between ever or current HT use and GERD. GERD is one of the most common conditions in gastroenterology practice. Its global prevalence has been estimated at nearly 14%. Common symptoms include heartburn, dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), and chest pain. Anatomical abnormalities, such as hiatal hernia and obesity, have been identified as risk factors. Estrogen increases stomach acid production and is associated with...

Women ages 45 years and older taking estrogen hormone therapy in pill form were more likely to develop high blood pressure than those using transdermal (topical, applied to the skin) or vaginal formulations, according to research. "We know estrogens ingested orally are metabolized through the liver and this can lead to higher blood pressure," said Cindy Kalenga, an M.D./Ph.D.-candidate This study involved a large group of over 112,000 women, ages 45 years and older. First, researchers investigated the relationship between route of estrogen-only hormone therapy administration and risk of developing high blood pressure at least one year after starting the...

In what may turn out to be a long-missing piece in the puzzle of breast cancer, researchers have identified the molecular sparkplug that ignites cases of the disease currently unexplained by the classical model of breast-cancer development. "We have identified what we believe is the original molecular trigger that initiates a cascade culminating in breast tumor development in a subset of breast cancers that are driven by estrogen," said Peter Park. The researchers said as many as one-third of breast cancer cases may arise through the newly identified mechanism. The study also shows that the sex hormone estrogen is the...

When the Wing first opened its doors in Flatiron in 2016 as a pioneering, women-only coworking space, it became a phenomenon. Founders Audrey Gelman and Lauren Kassan raised more than $100 million from investors like WeWork and Airbnb. At its peak, it had 11 locations... But things took a sudden turn the following year. In June 2020, Gelman stepped down after employees protested her leadership and alleged mistreatment of black and brown staffers. It was the beginning of the end. Earlier this week, Wing members received an email announcing that the club’s six remaining locations would be closing due to...

A team of researchers in Japan has succeeded in making catfish all female with a compound found in soybeans -- a development that promises to increase the production efficiency of this and other species whose females are more valuable than males in the food market. The team, from Kindai University's Aquaculture Research Institute and based at the institute's Shingu Station in Shingu, Wakayama Prefecture, used isoflavone -- a compound found in soybeans similar in effect to female hormones -- to create the all-female groups of catfish. The feat is a Japan first, according to the university. As female catfish grow...

The Republican-controlled Arizona State Senate failed to pass an election integrity bill that tightens the rules for maintaining lists of voters who automatically are mailed absentee ballots Thursday when State Sen. Kelly Townsend (R-16) surprised her colleagues by joining with all 14 Democrats who voted no when the bill came to the floor. The bill’s sponsor, Republican state Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, said on the floor it was “disappointing to be on the receiving end of someone’s temper tantrum.” Townsend said she wouldn’t vote on any of the other proposed election changes until after the audit was completed, and complained that...

Our immune systems tend to deteriorate as we age, so older people's bodies don't work as hard to defend them against foreign invaders — including the protein introduced to the body via a vaccine. As a result, side effects are often milder and less numerous among the elderly than among younger adults. Women tend to have stronger reactions to many vaccines, including those for polio, influenza, measles, and mumps — so it's no surprise that they have more side effects after their coronavirus shots, too. Cherian said this likely has to do with estrogen levels. "Testosterone tends to be an...

Fred Deutsch didn't set out to be a trailblazer. He just wanted to protect kids. But if his South Dakota bill stops children from being mutilated, then all of the nasty emails will have been worth it. At least in one state, hurting teens will have a chance at a normal life -- not the suffering so many activists are pushing them toward. When legislators bundled up for work this morning in Pierre, some of them were on their way to make history. For the first time in America, a state was holding a hearing on whether minors under 16...

This is Your Brain on Birth Control, a new book by Dr. Sara E. Hill takes a remarkably deep dive into the myriad ways that hormonal contraception alters women’s bodies, demonstrating that our sex hormones have an enormous impact on how our brains and bodies function. As we learn more about the consequences of altering women’s hormonal balance with contraception, we’ve come to find that those consequences can be very serious, indeed—in some cases, even fatal. Although the book is about the consequences of meddling with the hormones of women of reproductive age, it should also serve as a cautionary...

Recent numbers released by the American Academy of Dermatology revealed a dramatic spike in the incidence of melanoma cases among young women. Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer, and for women aged 18-39, its rates have increased by 800% from 1970 to 2009. In Caucasian women under 44, the number of cases has increased by just over 6% annually. (1) Now, in addition to being the most dangerous, melanoma is one of the most common cancers in young adults (especially young women). More than 7,000 people in the United States are expected to die of melanoma in...

As a physician assistant specializing in OB/GYN, I have prescribed birth control to everyone for everything . . . irregular cycles, painful periods, unusual bleeding, PMS, acne, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, perimenopause and, of course, to avoid pregnancy. It wasn’t until my own struggles with infertility that I began to research more about the consequences of using artificial hormones. Although I was taught in school that the birth control pill was a treatment for these disorders, I learned that artificial hormones are only FDA-approved to treat two things: to avoid pregnancy, and for hormonal acne. Other than that, the...

I have decided to finally read what is widely regarded as the literary work that unleashed the modern feminist movement, Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique." I am halfway through the book, and I find it to be a well-written cri de coeur (cry from the heart). Historically speaking, there was always much to lament regarding the status of women. Though I have none of the contempt Friedan has for "housewifery," her description of women who felt they had no sense of self because they were only someone's wife and some children's mother is emotionally compelling. But a big and troubling...

AVON, Ind. — Armed with sunscreen, doorknob fliers and a mission 50 years in the making, the team of activists sporting blue “I Vote Pro-Life” T-shirts fanned out into a web of cul-de-sacs in a subdivision just west of Indianapolis, undeterred by towering rain clouds and 90-degree heat. It was exactly a week after President Trump had named Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to be his nominee for the Supreme Court, and the group was joking that they had a new sport: Extreme Canvassing. In short surveys, the teams ask voters about their hopes for Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation and their opposition...

A transgender woman claimed to be drugging attendees of a conservative conference in Phoenix, Arizona on Friday morning. The biological male and Starbucks employee — identified on Twitter as “Lauren” — claimed to be slipping estrogen pills into the drinks of unsuspecting customers at the conference. “I love my job at the phoenix convention center starbucks and i love slipping my spare estradiol pills in the coffee of anyone wearing a #WesternConservativeConference lanyard,” Lauren tweeted. Estradiol is an estrogen steroid hormone and the major female sex hormone.

Roseanne Barr advised Trump-hating comedian Jimmy Kimmel to “zip that f***en lip” unless he’s actively rooting for the United States to fail. Barr made the remarks while promoting the upcoming reboot of “Roseanne,” the hit TV series she starred in from 1988 to 1997. During her interview, leftist comedian Kimmel reminded Roseanne that she was once a liberal supporter of Hillary Clinton. Barr — part of an underreported group of Americans who became Trump supporters thanks to Hillary — said she’s still the same person, but today’s “liberals” have become so radical and so far-left they turned her off. “I’m...

Today’s #ThrowbackThursday Post comes via the Wall Street Journal’s Magazine: Spring Men’s Wear Fashion edition. It will adequately demonstrate why Throwback Thursdays are more than a bow to nostalgia. First, we  take a look at what the world considered to be stylish men – both straight and gay – from the past century: l to r: James Dean, Gary Cooper, Paul NewmanBuddy Holly, Dean Martin and Miles Davis:Compare the above to the WSJ’s Spring fashion shoot Drift Away to a Sultry Riverscape in the Season's Best Menswear: The clothes haven’t changed all that much but the skeletal frame on which...

Fox News, television’s equivalent of a presidential safe space, kept up its steadfast defense of President Trump even as he faced an uproar this week over his response to the violence at a white supremacist rally in Virginia last Saturday. Anchors like Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson praised the president and lauded his bare-knuckle criticism of the news media. But notably, some pundits broke ranks. Eboni K. Williams, a host of the 5 p.m. show “The Specialists,” derided Mr. Trump in exceptionally blunt terms, calling his initial remarks about the rally “cowardly and dangerous” and accusing the president of minimizing...