GenderBiology.net

Women With Heart Disease Get Poorer Treatment Than Men

SOURCE: Medical News Today 

DATE:  December 17, 2007

EXCERPT:   "A paper in the latest issue of Menopause International argues that women with cardiovascular disease (CVD) have a worse outcome and are more likely to die than men once diagnosed."  more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Taggu W, Lloyd G. Treating cardiovascular disease in women. Menopause Int. 2007 Dec;13(4):159-64.

When Disease Discriminates: Women And COPD

SOURCE:  Medical News Today

DATE:  December 14, 2007

EXCERPT:   "Women have made a good deal of welcome progress in the last several decades, but at least one advance is unwanted: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is on the rise in women in prevalence, morbidity and mortality. By 2000, the number of women dying from COPD surpassed the number of men. But the rising number of cases in women has not been matched by medical understanding of the disease's apparent gender-bias."   more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Han MK, Postma D, Mannino DM, Giardino ND, Buist S, Curtis JL, Martinez FJ. Gender and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: why it matters. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2007 Dec 15;176(12):1179-84. Epub 2007 Aug 2.

Sex of Adult Mouse Muscle Stem Cells Affects Their Muscle Regeneration Efficiency

SOURCE:  National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) -- News & Events

DATE:  December 11, 2007

EXCERPT:   "Researchers have recently discovered that the sex of cells in a subpopulation of muscle-generating stem cells in adult mice can considerably influence their capacity to repair tissue. The finding may persuade researchers to consider the implication of relying on only male cells or female cells in research, and to report the sex of the stem cells used when publishing their findings. Their work was partly supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)."      more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Deasy BM, Lu A, Tebbets JC, Feduska JM, Schugar RC, Pollett JB, Sun B, Urish KL, Gharaibeh BM, Cao B, Rubin RT, Huard J. A role for cell sex in stem cell-mediated skeletal muscle regeneration: female cells have higher muscle regeneration efficiency. J Cell Biol. 2007 Apr 9;177(1):73-86.

Deasy BM, Corsi KA, Huard J. [Cellular therapy can be affected by the sex of the stem cell used] Med Sci (Paris). 2007 Oct;23(10):798-800. French.

Gender-Related Brain Differences In Early Onset Mental Illness

SOURCE:  Medical News Today

DATE:  December 10, 2007

EXCERPT:  "Puberty may have an impact on areas of the brain that contribute to bipolar disorder or schizophrenia in youth .... Researchers studying the brains of youth with bipolar disorder (also known as manic depressive illness) and schizophrenia found that these children have size differences in some rain areas between these disorders and between genders."  more

RELATED PUBMED LINKS:

Frazier JA, Breeze JL, Papadimitriou G, Kennedy DN, Hodge SM, Moore CM, Howard JD, Rohan MP, Caviness VS, Makris N. White matter abnormalities in children with and at risk for bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disord. 2007 Dec;9(8):799-809.

Frazier JA, Hodge SM, Breeze JL, Giuliano AJ, Terry JE, Moore CM, Kennedy DN, Lopez-Larson MP, Caviness VS, Seidman LJ, Zablotsky B, Makris N. Diagnostic and sex effects on limbic volumes in early-onset bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull. 2008 Jan;34(1):37-46. Epub 2007 Nov 13.

Coronary Artery Calcium May Raise Women's Heart Risk New study challenges traditional assessment of risk

SOURCE:  MedlinePlus:  HealthDay  

DATE:  Monday, December 10, 2007

EXCERPTS:  MONDAY, Dec. 10 (HealthDay News) -- About 5 percent of women considered at low risk for heart disease still face potential cardiovascular problems because of calcium buildup in their arteries, a new study suggests."  more   (displays for 90 days) 

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Lakoski SG, Greenland P, Wong ND, Schreiner PJ, Herrington DM, Kronmal RA, Liu K, Blumenthal RS. Coronary Artery Calcium Scores and Risk for Cardiovascular Events in Women Classified as "Low Risk" Based on Framingham Risk Score: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). Arch Intern Med. 2007 Dec 10;167(22):2437-42.

Heart Attack Symptoms in Women — Are they Different?

SOURCE: NIH News -- U.S. HHS   National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

DATE:  December 10, 2007

EXCERPT"  "Chest pain is still the most common sign of a heart attack for most women, although studies have shown that women are more likely than men to have symptoms other than chest pain or discomfort when experiencing a heart attack or other form of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) ..."  more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Canto JG, Goldberg RJ, Hand MM, Bonow RO, Sopko G, Pepine CJ, Long T. Symptom Presentation of Women With Acute Coronary Syndromes: Myth vs Reality. Arch Intern Med. 2007 Dec 10;167(22):2405-13.

Pheromones Identified that Trigger Aggression between Male Mice

SOURCE:  NIH News -- US HHS National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)

DATE: December 5, 2007

EXCERPTS: "A family of proteins commonly found in mouse urine is able to trigger fighting between male mice, a study in the Dec. 6, 2007, issue of Nature has found. The study, which is the first to identify protein pheromones responsible for the aggression response in mice, was funded in part by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), one of the National Institutes of Health. Pheromones are chemical cues that are released into the air, secreted from glands, or excreted in urine and picked up by animals of the same species, initiating various social and reproductive behaviors.  ....  "Although the pheromones identified in this research are not produced by humans, the regions of the brain that are tied to behavior are the same for mice and people. Consequently, this research may one day contribute to our understanding of the neural pathways that play a role in human behavior," says James F. Battey, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., director of the NIDCD. "Much is known about how pheromones work in the insect world, but we know very little about how these chemicals can influence behavior in mammals and other vertebrates."  more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Chamero P, Marton TF, Logan DW, Flanagan K, Cruz JR, Saghatelian A, Cravatt BF, Stowers L. Identification of protein pheromones that promote aggressive behaviour. Nature. 2007 Dec 6;450(7171):899-902.

New View of Heart Disease in Women

SOURCE:  Harvard Medical School HEALTHBeat email newsletter

DATE:  December 1, 2007

EXCERPTS:  "A revolution in thinking about coronary blood vessels could change the way women’s heart problems are diagnosed and treated. ...  findings from the federally funded Women’s Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) study — a landmark investigation into ischemic heart disease in women — are helping us to understand that heart disease, like cancer, is not one, but several disorders. Discoveries from the WISE study suggest that many women have a form of heart disease called coronary microvascular dysfunction that isn’t detected by standard diagnostic procedures and thus goes unrecognized and untreated.  ....   microvessel disease came as an epiphany. It helped explain why so many women with IHD were misdiagnosed and undertreated: The standard protocol identified only coronary artery obstructions. Microvessel disease could also help explain why so few women have the classic crushing chest pain that signals coronary artery disease. Instead, they feel diffuse discomfort, exhaustion, or shortness of breath under stress or even during daily routines — symptoms that are nonspecific and less dramatic than those that herald a blockage caused by a blood clot. As vessels lose their resilience, blood flow is reduced, and the heart muscle, deprived of oxygen, gradually dies, resulting in congestive heart failure.   ...  The WISE data may also explain why women who undergo angioplasty and bypass surgery don’t fare as well as men. These women may have both coronary artery disease and unrecognized microvessel disease. In such cases, opening the arteries isn’t sufficient.  ...  Pay attention to symptoms. Certain seemingly unrelated symptoms — fatigue, depression, shortness of breath — could be preludes to a serious cardiac event. Don’t be shy about seeking medical help for these symptoms.   ....  Talk to your doctor. If you’re at high risk for or have symptoms of heart disease, such as unexplained fatigue or shortness of breath, discuss the WISE findings with your clinician. She or he may want to reevaluate your care, especially if you’ve had a “false-positive” stress test (that is, the stress test indicated a problem but further testing was negative). ... "  more

RELATED PUBMED LINKS:

Pepine CJ, von Mering GO, Kerensky RA, Johnson BD, McGorray SP, Kelsey SF, Pohost G, Rogers WJ, Reis SE, Sopko G, Bairey Merz CN; WISE Study Group. Phytoestrogens and coronary microvascular function in women with suspected myocardial ischemia: a report from the Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) Study. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2007 May;16(4):481-8.

Lerman A, Sopko G. Women and cardiovascular heart disease: clinical implications from the Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) Study. Are we smarter? J Am Coll Cardiol. 2006 Feb 7;47(3 Suppl):S59-62.

Bairey Merz CN, Shaw LJ, Reis SE, Bittner V, Kelsey SF, Olson M, Johnson BD, Pepine CJ, Mankad S, Sharaf BL, Rogers WJ, Pohost GM, Lerman A, Quyyumi AA, Sopko G; WISE Investigators. Insights from the NHLBI-Sponsored Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) Study: Part II: gender differences in presentation, diagnosis, and outcome with regard to gender-based pathophysiology of atherosclerosis and macrovascular and microvascular coronary disease.
J Am Coll Cardiol. 2006 Feb 7;47(3 Suppl):S21-9. Review.

Merz NB, Johnson BD, Kelsey PSF, Reis SE, Lewis JF, Reichek N, Rogers WJ, Pepine CF, Shaw LJ; Wise Study Group. Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation. Diagnostic, prognostic, and cost assessment of coronary artery disease in women. Am J Manag Care. 2001 Oct;7(10):959-65.

Reis SE, Holubkov R, Conrad Smith AJ, Kelsey SF, Sharaf BL, Reichek N, Rogers WJ, Merz CN, Sopko G, Pepine CJ; WISE Investigators. Coronary microvascular dysfunction is highly prevalent in women with chest pain in the absence of coronary artery disease: results from the NHLBI WISE study. Am Heart J. 2001 May;141(5):735-41.

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