GenderBiology.net

Mayo Clinic Examines Why Knee Osteoarthritis Afflicts More Women Than Men

SOURCE:  Newswise

DATE:  August 3, 2011

EXCERPT: "A Mayo Clinic orthopedic surgeon suspects that the nagging pain and inflammation that women can experience in their knees may be different from what men encounter, and she has been chosen to lead a novel U.S.-Canadian study to explore the question. ... recent studies have indicated sex differences at the cellular and molecular levels may influence development of the disease, ..."   more

The Exercise Files: Gender Differences In Exercise

SOURCE:  Medical News Today

DATE:   February 11, 2011

EXCERPT: "The Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that in order to prevent weight gain, an average woman who eats a normal diet needs 60 minutes of moderate exercise per day. If a woman is overweight or obese, 60 minutes of exercise is inadequate to keep off the weight, according to the study. In many cases she will have to modify her diet, including cutting down on overall daily caloric intake.  ...  there are some important things women need to keep in mind in order to prevent injury.   ...   gender differences in exercise-related injuries. Most of these relate to ligament laxity. ....  Women are also more likely to experience knee pain than men, especially in the patellar (knee cap) region. This is partially due to their natural laxity and also due to "an (anatomical) difference in the knee angle that puts women's knees at an increased level of stress ....  there are specific things women can do to reduce their risk of injury while exercising ...  more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Kwatra SG. Physical activity and preventing weight gain in women. JAMA. 2010 Jun 23;303(24):2475-6; uthor reply 2476. No abstract available.

*Note: if you do not have access to this journal, contact your local librarian for assistance in accessing this article through library resources.

Pesticides Linked to RA, Lupus Risk

SOURCE: MedPage Today

DATE: February 01, 2011

EXCERPT: "Women's risk of developing autoimmune rheumatic disease increases incrementally according to the frequency and duration of their exposure to insecticides, a large observational study suggested."   more

RELATED PUBMED LINKS:

Primary Source:

Parks CG, Walitt BT, Pettinger M, Chen JC, de Roos AJ, Hunt J, Sarto G, Howard BV. Insecticide use and risk of rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2011 Feb;63(2):184-94.

Additional Source:

Costenbader K, Laden F. What do pesticides, farming, and dose effects have to do with the risk of developing connective tissue disease? Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2011 Feb;63(2):175-7.

*Note: if you do not have access to this journal, contact your local librarian for assistance in accessing this article through library resources.

Gene Study Suggests Why MS Is Women's Disease

SOURCE:  MedPage Today

DATE:  January 6, 2011

EXCERPT: "The mystery of why multiple sclerosis predominantly strikes women may have been unraveled a bit, thanks to a new genetic study. Polymorphisms in major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes and their associated DNA methylation patterns may combine with environmental influences in ways that promote greater susceptibility to the disease in women than in men, ..."   more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Chao MJ, Ramagopalan SV, Herrera BM, Orton SM, Handunnetthi L, Lincoln MR, Dyment DA, Sadovnick AD, Ebers GC. MHC transmission: insights into gender bias in MS susceptibility. Neurology. 2011 Jan 18;76(3):242-6.

*Note: if you do not have access to this journal, contact your local librarian for assistance in accessing this article through library resources.

Alpha Males Take Greater Risks: Study Links Finger Length To Behaviour

SOURCE:  Medical News Today

DATE: November 20, 2010

EXCERPT:  "Potential investors may wish to examine the fingers of their financial advisor prior to signing over any savings. A new study from Concordia University has found the length between the second and fourth finger is an indicator of high levels of prenatal testosterone, risk-taking and potential financial success in men. The findings, published in the journal of Personality and Individual Differences, suggest that alpha males may take greater risks in relationships, on the squash court and in the financial market."  more

RELATED INFORMATION:

Stenstrom, E., Saad, G., Nepomuceno, M.V., Mendenhall, Z. Testosterone and domain-specific risk: Digit ratios (2D:4D and rel2) as predictors of recreational, financial, and social risk-taking behaviors. Personality and Individual Differences [journal].

*Note: if you do not have access to this journal, contact your local librarian for assistance in accessing this article through library resources.

Female Athletes with Higher Estrogen Levels May Have Higher Injury Risk

SOURCE:  Newswise

DATE: September 10, 2010

EXCERPT: "In female athletes with chronically higher estrogen levels, differences in the mechanical properties of tendons may lead to a higher risk of injury, according to a study ..."   more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Burgess KE, Pearson SJ, Onambélé GL. Patellar tendon properties with fluctuating menstrual cycle hormones. J Strength Cond Res. 2010 Aug;24(8):2088-5.  


*Note: if you do not have access to this journal, contact your local librarian for assistance in accessing this article through library resources.

Gender Bender, Do Gender Knee Implants Provide Better Outcomes?

SOURCE:  Medical News Today

DATE: August 19, 2010

EXCERPT: "A gender-specific total knee prosthesis was developed to more closely match the anatomy of the female knee, aiming to be a better fit resulting in better outcomes for women. However, a recent study in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) found that 85 women who received a gender-specific implant in one knee and a standard prosthesis in the other knee found no clinical benefits of the gender-specific knee."   more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Kim YH, Choi Y, Kim JS. Comparison of a standard and a gender-specific posterior cruciate-substituting high-flexion knee prosthesis: a prospective, randomized, short-term outcome study. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2010 Aug 18;92(10):1911-20.

*Note: if you do not have access to this journal, contact your local librarian for assistance in accessing this article through library resources.

Phys Ed: What Exercise Science Doesn’t Know About Women

SOURCE:  New York Times

DATE:  June 30, 2010

EXCERPT: "Several years ago, Dr. David Rowlands, a senior lecturer with the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health at Massey University in New Zealand, set out to study the role of protein in recovery from hard exercise. He asked a group of male cyclists to ride intensely until their legs were aching and virtually all of their stored muscle fuel had been depleted. The cyclists then consumed bars and drinks that contained either mostly carbohydrates or both carbohydrates and protein. Then, over the next few days, they completed two sessions of hard intervals. One took place the following morning; the next, two days later."    more

2 Glasses Of Milk A Day Tones Muscles, Keeps The Fat Away In Women, Study Shows

SOURCE:  Medical News Today

DATE:  May 28, 2010

EXCERPT: "Women who drink two large glasses of milk a day after their weight-lifting routine gained more muscle and lost more fat compared to women who drank sugar-based energy drinks, ..."     more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Josse AR, Tang JE, Tarnopolsky MA, Phillips SM. Body composition and strength changes in women with milk and resistance exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2010 Jun;42(6):1122-30. 


*Note: if you do not have access to this journal, contact your local librarian for assistance in accessing this article through library resources.

Muscles and Bones in Cahoots

SOURCE:  Newswise

DATE:  April 22, 2010

EXCERPT:  "Traditionally, doctors and clinicians thought diseases that affect muscles or bones affected those areas specifically. For example, bone diseases only affect bones, or muscle diseases only concerned muscles. But recent evidence supports the notion that bones and muscles are more interconnected than previously thought. It seems that bones and muscles can release signals that directly affect one another’s function or disease state. Even more remarkable is that these systems seem to produce secreting factors that communicate to distant parts of the body.
... 

One area  ... [studied] ... was the regulation of calcium metabolism  ... The mutant mice also had weakness in smooth muscle function of the contracting arteries and vessels. Interestingly enough, some of these results seemed to be gender specific. The female mice developed osteoporosis, but the males did not. And there was female bias for weakness in heart muscle function that was not seen in the male subjects. This data supports that calcium regulation is different between the two sexes, which may explain why women are more likely to get osteoporosis than men.   more

RELATED LINK:

Presented by Dr. Marco Brotto [on date] at the 2010 Experimental Biology conference  being held 24-28 April 2010 in Anaheim, CA