GenderBiology.net

Vitamin K Linked To Insulin Resistance In Older Men

SOURCE: Medical News Today

DATE:  November 27, 2008

EXCERPT: "Vitamin K slowed the development of insulin resistance in elderly men in a study of 355 non-diabetic men and women ages 60 to 80 who completed a three-year clinical trial at the Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University (USDA HNRCA).

"Men who received vitamin K supplementation had less progression in their insulin resistance by the end of the clinical trial," said Sarah Booth, senior author and director of the Vitamin K Laboratory at the USDA HNRCA. "Conversely, we saw progression in insulin resistance in women who received vitamin K supplementation, and in the men or women who were not given vitamin K supplements."    more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Yoshida M, Jacques PF, Meigs JB, Saltzman E, Shea MK, Gundberg C, Dawson-Hughes B, Dallal G, Booth SL. Effect of vitamin K supplementation on insulin resistance in older men and women. Diabetes Care. 2008 Nov;31(11):2092-6.

The gender gap in spatial ability starts very early on

SOURCE: Science News

DATE:  November 25, 2008

EXCERPT:  "The gender gap in spatial abilities — charted for more than 30 years — emerges within the first few months of life, years earlier than previously thought, psychologists report."  more

RELATED PUBMED LINKS: 

Moore DS, Johnson SP. Mental rotation in human infants: a sex difference. Psychol Sci. 2008 Nov;19(11):1063-6.

Quinn PC, Liben LS. A sex difference in mental rotation in young infants. Psychol Sci. 2008 Nov;19(11):1067-70.

Why Women Should Eat Less, Move More And Consider Wearing Transdermal Patches During Menopause

SOURCE: Medical News Today

DATE:  November 24, 2008

EXCERPT: "Weight and appetite experts from around the world met at a conference in Bangkok 1 earlier this year to discuss sex differences in obesity. One line of discussion looked at factors leading to women's weight gain during menopause, and how it might be avoided.  .... What the research shows clearly is that menopause causes a dramatic and sudden reduction in physical activity levels. ....  "We don't know exactly why menopausal women stop moving as much. But we know it's not because of their age and the lifestyle constraints happening at that time of life. Research suggests it's directly related to the lack of oestrogen, which has dramatic effects on signals the brain sends to the body.  ...."   more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Lovejoy JC, Sainsbury A; the Stock Conference 2008 Working Group. Sex differences in obesity and the regulation of energy homeostasis. Obes Rev. 2008 Oct 28.

An Egg a Day Raises Risk of Diabetes

SOURCE: MedPage Today

DATE:  Novembewr 21, 2008

EXCERPT: "People who eat eggs every day may substantially increase their risk of type 2 diabetes .... Men with the highest level of egg consumption -- at seven or more per week -- were 58% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who did not eat eggs, and women were 77% more likely to become diabetic if they ate at least an egg a day ...  more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Djoussé L, Gaziano JM, Buring JE, Lee IM. Egg Consumption and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in Men and Women. Diabetes Care. 2008 Nov 18.

Gender-Matched Heart Transplants Boost Survival Success

SOURCE: MedPage Today

DATE:  November 14, 2008

EXCERPT: "Heart transplant recipients from same-sex donors have modestly greater chances of short- and long-term survival, researchers found."   more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Patel ND, Weiss ES, Nwakanma LU, Russell SD, Baumgartner WA, Shah AS, Conte JV. Impact of donor-to-recipient weight ratio on survival after heart transplantation: analysis of the United Network for Organ Sharing Database. Circulation. 2008 Sep 30;118(14 Suppl):S83-8.

Women's chromosome division different from men's

SOURCE: Science News online

DATE: November 12, 2008

EXCERPT: "Women and men sometimes do things differently, right down to divvying up their genetic legacies. 

This divvying up is known as meiosis, a process that cuts the number of chromosomes in half during the production of eggs and sperm. Men do meiosis by the textbook, but women play it looser with the process ...  in addition, women’s chromosomes don’t behave the way men’s do."    more

RELATED:

Reported by Terry Hassold, geneticist, Washington State University-Pullman on Nov. 12 at the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics, Philadelphia.

A Little Alcohol Goes A Longer Way In Women Than In Men-in Good Ways And Bad, From The Harvard Heart Letter

SOURCE:

DATE:  October 6, 2008

EXCERPT:  "Alcohol can be a boon or a bane for health. The difference lies in the dose-a little is good, a lot is bad. But the dividing line between a little and a lot differs from person to person. It depends on many things, including sex. Women are more vulnerable than men to alcohol's long-term effects ... Women break down alcohol more slowly than men do."   more

RELATED CITATION:

Alcohol's cardiac effects differ by sex. Harvard Heart Letter. Oct 2008;19(2):2

Age And Gender Limitations For Hip Resurfacing

SOURCE: Medical News Today

DATE:  November 4, 2008

EXCERPT: "Hip resurfacing is often seen as a modern alternative to the more conventional total hip replacement, but new data from a study led by Rush University Medical Center suggest that a patient's age and gender are key to the operation's success.  ... the researchers found that the majority of serious complications occurred in women of all ages and men over the age of 55. The most common complication, and the most serious, was a fracture of the femoral neck, the slender area of bone just beneath the head of the femur."   more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Della Valle CJ, Nunley RM, Raterman SJ, Barrack RL. Initial American Experience with Hip Resurfacing Following FDA Approval. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2008 Oct 24.

Women's Hands Home to More Types of Germs

SOURCE: MedlinePlus (HealthDay)

DATE:  November 4, 2008

EXCERPT:  "Women's hands have a veritable United Nations of germs compared to men's, a new study finds.  .... Women had more germ diversity than men, possibly due to different acidities on the hands, different hand-washing regimens, differential production of sweat, variable hormones and how often moisturizers or cosmetics are applied."   more (articles display for 90 days)

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Robert E. Marquis  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  [Not in PubMed yet]

Women Pay Higher Premiums Than Men Of The Same Age For Identical Individual Health Insurance

SOURCE:  MedPage Today

DATE:  November 3, 2008

EXCERPT: "Women generally pay "much more" than men for identical individual health insurance policies, according to data from insurance companies and online brokers, the New York Times reports."   more

RELATED CITATION:

Pear R. Women Buying Health Policies Pay a Penalty New York Times. October 30, 2008. A23 New York edition.