Archive for the ‘Hormone Clinic’ Category

Often fleeing persecution or violence in their countries of origin, LGBT undocumented immigrants face heightened trauma if they're taken into custody by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has no mandatory standard of treatment for vulnerable detainees.

Irvin Gonzlez was one of the nearly 700 immigrants detained as part of a series of nationwide Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in early February, and one of the few whose story garnered national attention. Gonzlez, a transgender woman who was detained in a Texas courthouse shortly after obtaining a protective order against her abusive ex, was immediately held up as an example of the inhumanity of President Donald Trump's immigration policiesbut the media blitz surrounding her case largely ignored one of the most important parts of her story: her gender.

Trump's targeting of immigrantsundocumented and otherwiseand of trans people are typically considered distinct issues that can be boiled down into separate soundbites: deportations for the former, revocation of bathroom access for the latter. Gonzlez's case, however, shines a light on the intersections of xenophobia and transphobia, as well as the horrific conditions LGBT immigrantsespecially those who are transgenderface in detention.

Read more: The Shocking, Painful Trauma of Being a Trans Prisoner in Solitary Confinement

Gonzlez was repeatedly misgendered in the criminal complaint detailing her February 9th arrest. At the El Paso County Jail, where she has been held since her arrest, she was denied hormone treatment for more than two weeks, which caused her to feel nauseated, lose sleep, and grow facial hair, Gonzlez told the New Yorker through her immigration attorney.

These are clear examples of "humiliation and day-to-day microaggressions that trans women face" in detention, Isa Noyola, the director of programs at the Transgender Law Center, told me. "Being denied their identities and their pronouns, all of these things come together," Noyola said.

Transgender immigrants in ICE custody are often denied hormone treatment, according to a 2013 Center for American Progress report on the conditions LGBT immigrants face in detention. Although ICE's Performance-Based National Detention Standards say transgender detainees already receiving hormone therapy before being taken into custody should have continued access to their medication, these standards are not mandatory and are often flouted.

Even in cases when transgender immigrants are granted continued access to hormone therapy, ICE has to request their medical records from their country of origin, which often take upwards of a month to arrive and delay inmates' access to hormone therapy. This was allegedly what happened in Gonzlez's case: US Marshals said they needed to wait for her medical records to arrive from Mexico before she could receive hormones, the El Paso Times reported.

Gonzlez had been deported six times since 2010, ICE spokesperson Leticia Zamarripa said in a statement, adding that Gonzlez was recently convicted for possession of stolen mail in addition to "at least eight [prior] convictions on charges including false imprisonment, assault, larceny, domestic violence and illegal re-entry." But the context of transphobic violence in Mexico casts Gonzlez's re-entry into the United States in a different light, and her criminal and immigration history don't tell the whole story, advocates claim. In Mexico, transgender women often lack access to gender-confirming health care, including hormone therapy, according to a 2016 report by the Transgender Law Center and Cornell Law School's LGBT Clinic. Additionally, Mexico City is the only city in the country that allows transgender people to legally change their name and gender to correspond to their gender identity, but lengthy delays and high costs mean legal name changes are unavailable to many transgender women. Outside Mexico City, anti-discrimination laws don't prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity. Throughout the country, trans women face a disproportionate amount of violence; Mexico has one of the highest documented rates of transphobic murders in the world, and Mexico City has the highest rate of transphobic murders in the country. The report also found that increased visibility of LGBT issues in the country has led to an increase in violence and misconceptions, with transgender women "bearing the brunt of this escalation."

"They're looking at [Gonzlez's] criminal history in a very linear, basic way," Noyola said of ICE and of the conservative news outlets who latched onto reports of Gonzlez's criminal record. "They're not acknowledging the circumstances that can drive an individual to feel that they have to make these choices in order to survive. To not acknowledge the violence that trans women face, trans immigrant women in particular, is a failure of how this whole situation arose."

Gonzlez may be one of the most recent and high-profile examples of ICE's poor track record with LGBT detainees, but she is far from the only one. The Center for American Progress obtained nearly 200 reports of abuse of LGBT detainees in ICE facilities between 2008 and 2013but the group maintains that since LGBT detainees "often fear retaliation if they submit a complaint," this number "likely illustrate[s] a fraction" of the total abuse LGBT immigrants in detention face across the country.

The report found that LGBT immigrants were at an increased risk for sexual assault and verbal and physical abuse by both guards and other detainees and that there were several incidences of LGBT immigrants being humiliated by guards in front of other inmates. Many facilities place LGBT detainees in solitary confinement as an attempt to protect them from the general population, which often has adverse effects on their mental health. According to a 2015 report by the Vera Institute of Justice, suicide rates and incidents of self-harm are much higher for people in solitary confinement than among the general prison population.

For asylum seekers and refugees fleeing violence in their home countries, detention can be a particularly traumatic experience. Andrea Senz, supervising attorney at Brooklyn Defender Services' Immigration Practice, recalled the devastating effects that being detained had on one of her clients, a gay asylum seeker from Mali.

"He had been severely persecuted in his own community and came here seeking safety. He was very, very traumatized by being detained," Senz said. "He had never been in a carceral setting before, and had a lot of mental health challenges and even became suicidal. In detention, there isn't really access to mental health services. In terms of someone who has been through trauma and persecution and needs counseling, there isn't really much of that."

Tasha Hill, LGBTQ rights staff attorney at the ACLU of Southern California, said ICE has repeatedly shown they can't humanely detain LGBT immigrants, particularly transgender women. "It's a particularly cruel way to treat someone who's fleeing persecution in their country of origin," Hill told me.

"ICE has proven they can't keep this population safe, especially because to date, they have insisted upon housing trans women in men's facilities and housing trans men in women's facilities," she added. "This leads to increased feelings of gender dysphoria and to an incredibly high rate of abuse, especially for trans women who are fleeing other countries."

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There are only two ICE detention facilities that house transgender detainees in separate, specialized units: the Santa Ana City Jail in California and the Prairieland Detention Center in Texas, which is operated by Emerald Correctional Management, a private contractor that operates seven facilities and detention centers across the country.

Late last year, Santa Ana city officials announced they would end their contract with ICE in 2020. In February, ICE notified the city that it would terminate its detention contract with the facility in 90 days, leaving many transgender detainees in limbo. The Santa Ana facility, Hill said, housed "sometimes up to half of the trans folks" in ICE custody nationwide, some of whom have already been transferred to men's facilities, Hill said. Others will be sent to the new Prairieland facility. Although immigration advocates initially viewed Santa Ana's severed ties with ICE as a net positive, some are now worried that detaineesespecially those who are transgenderwill be adversely affected.

"There are less resources available to immigrants in Texas, including access to attorneys," Hill said. "If you have an attorney, you're more likely to be granted asylum."

The fact that many transgender detainees will be sent to a for-profit facility is also worrying for advocates. "At least in Santa Ana, there's an activist community that is making an effort to hold the city accountable," she added. "With these private detention facilities, it's just a board of directors trying to make money off locking people up. The safety expectations and the standards are very low."

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For LGBT Undocumented Immigrants, Detention Means More Fear and Humiliation - Broadly

Over the course of seven years, Sezenia Tzeni endured seven rounds of in vitro fertilization. Typically, women undergo only three or four IVF treatments before either getting pregnant or giving up. But for Tzeni and her husband, conceiving a child was more important than almost anything else.

My mother and friends told me to do an adoption, 36-year-old Tzeni told Gizmodo. But I wanted to feel it, to feel the feeling of pregnancy and the moving in my belly.

Each time, though, the cycle of hope and disappointment became more devastating. After the seventh round, finally, she stopped trying.

Then, in 2015, a friend told Tzeni, who lives on a small island in Greece, about a clinic in Athens called Genesis. There, a gynecologist named Konstantinos Sfakianoudis claimed to have found a way to rejuvenate aging ovaries with a blood treatment typically used for healing wounds. So far, Sfakianoudis says, the technique has helped nine women nearing menopause who were having difficulty conceiving to get pregnant via IVF. In pre-clinical trial data provided by Sfakianoudis, 11 of 27 menopausal women saw menopause reversed, with hormone levels returning to those associated with fertility, and menstruation beginning again. Two of those women were able to generate healthy eggs, and one of them got pregnant, though she has not yet given birth.

In another case study, a menopausal German woman treated by Genesis got pregnant and gave birth, according to information Sfakianoudis provided to Gizmodo.

Now, the group is planning to bring its treatment to the US. Genesis is currently in the process of enrolling 50 patients in a clinical trial in collaboration with scientists from UC Berkeley and a La Jolla IVF practice. But the clinics work has engendered plenty of skepticism. Its bold claim suggests it has managed to reverse a milestone event in a womans lifein a sense, to undo the process of aging itself. But other than a brief presentation at a conference last summer, Genesis has yet to publish its findings. And even if its technique works, some wonder, is reinstating fertility in women well into their fifties and sixties something we should even really be doing?

We were skeptical, too, when it started to work, Sfakianoudis told Gizmodo, via phone from Greece. Now I could not be more optimistic.

This seemingly miraculous treatment contradicts what has been considered fact since the 1950s: That women are born with all the eggs they will ever have. Estimates suggest that from the time she is born, a woman loses about 1,000 egg cells, called oocytes, a month. At puberty, oocytes begin to mature, and during each cycle of ovulation, usually just one ripens to maturity. Eventually, at some point, conventional wisdom holds that a womans supply of oocytes runs out. Her ovaries stop producing the hormones needed to maintain fertility, and she enters menopause.

Over the past decade or so, though, a small trickle of research has challenged this picture. In 2004, a reproductive biologist then at Massachusetts General Hospital named Jonathan Tilly published a paper suggesting that in mice, oocytes were regularly replenished by stem cells. If he was right (and if the finding held true in humans)it meant that stem cells could be harnessed to produce new eggs, perhaps even reverse menopause. His work wasand still iscontroversial. But since then, new research by Tilly and others gave the idea more credibility. A year after his initial study, Tilly announced that he had identified bone marrow as the source of those egg-producing stem cells. In 2009, a team in China reported that they had similarly isolated female germline stem cells in the ovarian tissue of mice, which they then transplanted into infertile mice. Eventually, the mice were able to give birth.

The Greek groups work is rooted in this idea, that a womans ovaries might just need a boostfrom stem cells, or something elseto kickstart egg production again. Instead of stem cells, though, Genesis turned to a blood treatment known as platelet-rich plasma (PRP). Its an old practice typically used to help muscle and tendon injuries heal faster, though just how effective it is for healing remains unclear. The idea is to spin down a sample of a persons blood in a centrifuge to isolate molecules that help trigger tissue and blood vessel growth, then inject this enriched blood back into the body, hopefully stimulating tissue regeneration to help a wound heal faster. Bone marrow transplants and (the far less invasive) PRP transfusions contain similar growth factors, so Genesis put two-and-two together and began offering their clients transfusions of PRP.

Genesis idea isnt totally without precedent. At least one fertility clinic in New York offers PRP as a ovarian rejuvenation treatment for a cool $3,500, citing, accompanied by many asterisks, a single case study presented at a conference of a postmenopausal woman who gave birth after being treated with PRP. A 2015 Chinese study of five infertile women with thin uterine linings all became pregnant after PRP infusions stimulated that lining to grow thicker. A similar trial is currently underway at UCSF. Meanwhile, OvaScience, a biotech startup founded by Tilly, is working to rejuvenate egg cells from older women by adding new cytoplasm and mitochondria.

In 2015, the Greek clinic began treating patients past and nearing menopause with PRP, as well as younger women who had other conditions like uterine scarring that made it difficult to conceive. They found that in all three scenarios, PRP seemed to stimulate egg production. Additionally, and notably less scientifically, they concluded that the overall state of feminine mental and physical health appeared to improve significantly with the restoration of youthful hormone levels.

Last July, Sfakianoudiss team presented early results at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology annual meeting in Finland. More recently, the clinic partnered with a biotech firm with transhumanist leanings, Ascendance Biomedical, to spin the treatment off into a company, Inovium.

The US trials are an effort by the company to gather more data to back up their findings and lend it legitimacy. The trial will be held at the Center for Advanced Genetics in Carlsbad, CA and supervised by Michael and Irina Conboy, a husband and wife research team at UC Berkeley known for their pioneering work studying aging and rejuvenation in mice.

Still, its hard not to raise an eyebrow at a company that mixes up the name of the scientist who supposedly inspired its work on the science tab of the company website. (Inovium referred to scientist Jonathan Tilly as Dr. Roger Tilley. When Gizmodo pointed this out, the company edited the page, but still spelled Tillys name incorrectly.) More troublingly, Inovium and Genesis are offering women that are desperate for children and willing to pay a very high price a treatment for which they still have published no peer-reviewed data, have done very small studies, and have little more than untested theories to explain how it all actually works.

I would be very cautious proceeding with such a clinical investigation, said Christos Coutifaris, president-elect of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. Infertility patients are very vulnerable, he added, referring to the emotional toll that fertility treatments can take.

Genesis is the biggest private fertility clinic in Greece. Fertility is big businessthe industry is expected to surpass $30 billion by 2023and Genesis founder, Kostas Pantos, envisioned turning Greece into a hub for medical tourism in this fast-growing market. Since opening in 1995, the clinic has often been at the forefront of fertility technology, with early forays into genetic screening of embryos and research identifying which embryos are most likely to make it to term.

So far, more than 60 women who were either past menopause or having trouble getting pregnant have received PRP treatment at Genesis, including Tzeni, according to Sfakianoudis. In over 75 percent of those cases, the clinic claims that hormone levels (AMH, FSH, LH, and Estradiol) returned to youthful levels. The nine women who ultimately wound up pregnant after undergoing PRP and IVF were between 36 and 54, and experienced no complications.

Were still in the very early process of trying to figure out when it works, how it works and why it works, Sfakianoudis said.

Ultimately, the end goal is to publish the results of the US trial in a peer-reviewed journal.

Michael and Irina Conboy, the Berkeley scientists who have signed on as advisors and researchers on the project, said that while its plausible the treatment works and early data is promising, a proper pilot study is needed before anyone can really judge anything.

What I like most about this trial, Michael Conboy told Gizmodo, is that it sounds very unlikely it will harm anyone.

Unlike traditional PRP transfusions, which require donor blood, the Greek clinics procedure uses a patients own genetic material, removing their blood plasma, enriching it, and then injecting it back into the ovaries in a relatively noninvasive procedure. The study will look at menopausal and perimenopausal women looking to conceive, and follow them through IVF treatment and, if all goes well, birth.

The Conboys said that they were enticed by the clinic and spin-off company seeking to back-up its wild-sounding claims with actual science.

They specifically mentioned that they dont want to be another Ambrosia, Irina Conboy said, referencing the Silicon Valley startup that offers blood transfusions to youth-seekers based on questionable science. All of this needs to start with a study, she added.

The Conboys own lab has found that old blood can be damaging to younger mice, and that young blood is not as effective at rejuvenation as fans of the theory, like billionaire Peter Thiel, have hoped it would be. The couples work, though, has also indicated that regulating certain blood proteins that change with age to maintain youthful levels can allow stem cells to more effectively repair the body, as they do in youth.

The idea is that the stem cells themselves are not too old, but its the environment around them that suppresses them, Conboy said.

PRP, he speculated, could be sending signals to stem cells in the ovaries that produce oocytes to regenerate.

The trial is still in its early stagesbasic details, like whether or not UC Berkeley will officially oversee it, are still being worked out.

Even if the trial does indicate Inoviums treatment is effective, though, it is not likely to quell all detractors. The treatment raises questions of whether women at or nearing menopause should be having children at all. Because risks of pregnancy complications increase with age, most IVF clinics have an upper age limit under 45 years of age. In some countries, like Israel, performing IVF over a certain age is illegal. Most of the women Sfakianoudiss team have treated so far have been between 45 and 64.

For Tzeni, Sfakianoudis concluded that her pregnancy woes were due to chronic inflammation in the lining of her uterus.

At first, the clinic tried treating the inflammation with several different antibiotic pills. Still, there was significant inflammation. Then they tried PRP. The inflammation disappeared.

He told me, Now its perfect to have embryos success, she said of Sfakianoudis. He told me, Dont worry, you will have children and Im sure you will have twins.

After another round of IVF, on September 17, 2016 she gave birth to twins.

Visit link:
The Crazy Plan to Restore a Woman's Fertilityand Defy the Limits of Nature - Gizmodo

Read More: Dr. Wendy Klein, Health Brigade, Jennifer Gallienne

Last night, Donald Trump stood on a stage in Nashville, Tennessee and once again reiterated his determination to repeal Obamacare, throwing his support behind the American Healthcare Act.

The bill that I will ultimately sign will get rid of Obamacare and make healthcare better for you and your family, Trump said.

This comes on the heels of a series of blows for one of the most vulnerable groups in America, the transgender community. There was the Trump administration rescinding federal guidelines instructing schools to allow transgender students to use the facilities that correspond with their gender identity. The caused the Supreme Court to send the case of Gavin Grimm, a transgender teenager who was unable to use the boys restroom at his high school, which would have potentially determined if Title IX protections extend to gender identity, not just sex.

For the trans community, who are often the subjects of discrimination in healthcare settings and are twice as likely as other Americans to live in poverty, the repeal of the Affordable Care Act could have devastating consequences.

There is real fear, Jennifer Gallienne said. But, we will continue to see people no matter what.

Gallienne is the Trans Health Services Coordinator for the Health Brigade. Health Brigade, formerly the Fan Free Clinic, has been providing healthcare services to the poor and underserved in Richmond for fifty years and, for the past ten years, has been providing primary care services to the transgender community.

Health Brigade offers a variety of services, including medical services, health outreach and advocacy, mental health services, HIV testing, and transgender healthcare. Because of their mission to provide healthcare to the those unable to afford or access healthcare, eligible patients cannot earn more than 200% of the federal poverty level.

Dr. Wendy Klein, Medical Director, who oversees the medical clinic and primary care services, has been at the clinic for two years and is proud to be a part of Health Brigades history of championing healthcare.

We provide a broad range of services to our patients, she said.

She discussed the Health Brigades long-standing mission of inclusiveness and and compassion to those least served, especially the trans community.

We have the long history of being in the forefront of AIDS/HIV care and testing, which led to a keen awareness of the need for excellent LGBT care, she said. We are one of the few places that have providers trained in specifically transgender health care.

Part of Health Brigades mission is to provide quality, appropriate, and affirming healthcare to the non-binary, gender-nonconforming, and transgender community. This includes hormone administration, gynecological care, individual counseling, and legal services. Health Brigade prides itself on its dedication to complete wellness, not just medical services.

At Health Brigade, we have always tried to improve the way that trans people are receiving healthcare and have more positive outcomes for them so they can live healthier lives, Gallienne said.

Dr. Klein explained that the trans health clinic was once separate from the main clinic, but has since been integrated as part of Health Brigades mission to provide overall care. And, in order to work and volunteer at the trans clinic, one must be educated and trained to serve their trans patients.

Our whole staff is aware of preferred pronouns and gender identity, she said. Its compassionate, sensitive care based on established evidence.

Gallienne, who does intake for trans patients and oversees staff education, emphasized the importance of providers understanding their patients as whole people rather than singular parts.

The most important is making sure that the people that were seeing and that the care theyre getting is quality care, affirming care, and informed care, she said. Making sure that who they are seeing is knowledgeable about trans identities and what theyre going through so our patients dont have to become the educators. They know theyll be treated with respect and dignity and as a whole person.

Part of providing overall wellness in healthcare is providing a wide array of services. Health Brigade also provides mental health counseling, psychiatric services, and wellness groups.

We have a mental health clinic with counselors and limited psychiatry services, Dr. Klein said. We cant take care of acute mental illness, but were able to provide counseling and care for general psychological problems.

Its important to see someone as a whole human being, Gallienne agreed. Its not required that any of our trans patients see mental health before they receive hormones, but it available to them if they want to access someone to talk to.

Dr. Klein explained that, built within the medical clinic, behavioral coaching is provided to address things such as smoking cessation, weight management, stress reduction, and other issues.

The integrated approach to care that combines mental health, behavioral health, nutrition, all of these things, make for a nice fabric of care, like threads in a fabric, she said.

The trans community faces particular obstacles in receiving healthcare, such as discrimination, harassment, and gate-keeping. As the Trans Health Services Coordinator, Gallienne strives to not only provide quality care to the trans community, but assist them in getting connected to additional community resources.

There is no average patient, she said. But, we do see a lot of our patients struggling with the same trends going on in the community, struggling to find resources and places they can go that are safe or that they can get treatment or care without facing harassment and discrimination. A common theme we see is not knowing where to go or if where theyre going will be safe or not.

With the possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act and increasing concerns over the American Healthcare Act, which the CBO predicted would cost up to 24 million Americans to lose healthcare coverage, Dr. Klein stated that the Health Brigades mission of providing affordable healthcare to the uninsured and the poor will only become more vital to the community.

If anything, the need for our services will increase if people lose their insurance on the exchange, she said.

We wanted to get the word out that we do accept new trans patients and that were a resource for people, Gallienne explained. As long as they meet our eligibility services, they are welcome to come. We are always accepting newcomers.

Dr. Klein and Gallienne agreed that community support is vital to the mission of the Health Brigade and to increasing awareness and acceptance of the LGBT community at large.

We exist on grants and donations, donations of money and donations of time, she said, referencing how the community could assist in supporting the clinics mission. There is also lobbying for improved care, lobbying to protect the ACA, lobbying for healthcare for all.

All support is welcome.

Health Brigade is located at 1010 N. Thompson Street in Richmond. For more information you can visit http://www.healthbrigade.org or call (804) 358-6343.

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In the face of Trump's healthcare reform, RVA's Health Brigade steps up to cover the region's most vulnerable ... - GayRVA

Women's Health

What You Need To Know About Gwyneth Paltrow's New Supplements Women's Health We asked Jessica Hutchins, M.D., a functional medicine pro at the Cleveland Clinic, to check out three of Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop Wellness supplement blendsBalls In The Air, Why Am I So Effing Tired, and The Mother Load. She evaluated the ingredients ... and more »

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What You Need To Know About Gwyneth Paltrow's New Supplements - Women's Health

A provocative new study looking at postmenopausal women who underwent coronary artery calcium (CAC) scanning indicates that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) use is associated not only with lower CAC scores but also lower all-cause mortality over a mean follow-up of 8 years.

The study, say investigators, should reopen the question of whether hormone replacement, according to contemporary guidance, may be useful in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease.

This is not a closed issue, senior author Daniel Berman, MD (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA), told TCTMD, noting that baseline amounts or changes in atherosclerosis may be useful in determining a role for HRT. Further studies should be performed, he said.

The study by Berman and colleagues will be presented by first author Yoav Arnson, MD (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center), at the upcoming American College of Cardiology (ACC) 2017 Scientific Sessions and was released early to the media this week.

HRT: A Rocky Road

The theory that hormone replacement in postmenopausal women could help prevent cardiovascular disease first evolved out of observational studies in the 1980s and 1990s, leading to widespread use of HRT and the launch of the massive Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study in 1991. HRTs popularity plummeted, however, after an interim analysis of the combination therapy estrogen/progestin arm of the study in 2002 showed an increased risk of breast cancer, coronary heart disease, stroke, and pulmonary embolism. Later, an analysis of the estrogen-only arm, in women who had undergone prior hysterectomy, showed no effect of HRT on coronary heart disease risk.

In the wake of WHI, current recommendations for HRT specify that it is to be used only for the relief of menopausal symptoms and that therapy should be at the lowest dose, for the shortest period of time, Virginia Miller, PhD (Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN), stressed to TCTMD. The North American Menopause Society and the international menopause societies all do not recommend use of hormone replacement therapy to decrease cardiovascular disease. That's just a given. So this paper kind of opens up that whole argument again, in a new way.

CAC Imaging and HRT

Arnson and colleagues retrospectively analyzed medical records for 4,286 postmenopausal women with no symptoms of cardiovascular disease who had undergone CAC scanning at their institution between 1998 and 2012. Forty-one percent of patients were taking HRT at the time of their CAC scan. Arnson et al then followed the women for a mean of 8.4 years.

They found that women using HRT were younger, with less hypertension and diabetes, and had similar LDL cholesterol levels but higher HDL cholesterol levels than women not taking HRT. Of note, however, average CAC scores were significantly lower in the HRT group (119.2 vs 322.2, P < 0.001), with significantly more women on HRT having CAC scores of 0 (HR 1.2; 95% CI 1.03-1.41). Also, CAC scores above 399 were less common in the HRT group (HR 0.63; 95% CI 0.44-0.88).

Over the follow-up period, HRT usage was associated with lower mortality (5.8% vs 6.8%), even after controlling for age, cardiac risk factors, and CAC score (HR 0.7; 95% CI 0.49-0.98).

There has a lot of controversy about hormone replacement therapy, Berman observed. There have been randomized trials that have shown that there is no benefit in terms of cardiovascular events and there have been observational studies that have shown there is benefit, so it's a controversial area.

Whats different about the current study, he continued, is that the authors were able to stratify patients according to the amount of baseline plaque. This has never been done before, he said. It appears that women who started off with moderate-to-extensive amounts of coronary calcium, or coronary atherosclerosis, are the ones in whom the greatest benefit of HRT was observed. Previously it's just been divided up by age and by time of onset of the treatment.

Cautious Hope, and Confusion

Miller, who reviewed the abstract for TCTMD, called the findings encouraging, pointing out that they corroborate results from the Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study (KEEPS), for which she herself was an investigator. KEEPS showed a signal of benefit for HRT in terms of coronary calcium, but because the study enrolled healthy womenin part, she said, due to the increased risk of cardiovascular events seen in WHI among older women with existing CVDKEEPS was underpowered. Even WHI, she noted, suggested that women early in menopause or those with hysterectomy taking estrogen alone had less coronary calcification if they took HRT.

As such the current study is consistent with pieces of the other studies, Miller observed. The key thing still missing is: which target group is HRT really going to help their cardiovascular risk factors?

Also, Miller pointed to other missing details that need answers, including what formulations of hormone therapy the women were taking, how long they had been taking it for, and whether they had undergone previous hysterectomy. Like Berman, however, Miller believes HRT may yet have a role in preventing atherosclerosis.

Also contacted by TCTMD, Lori Mosca, MD (NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University, New York, NY), was less sanguine. The study is observational and suffers from the same potential selection bias that previously epidemiological studies of HRT and CVD risk were susceptible to, she said in an email. This, she continued, caused tremendous public confusion when clinical trials showed discrepant results. The potential benefits and risks of HRT can only be definitely determined in prospective randomized controlled trials, [and] women should discuss their individual situation and weigh potential overall benefit and risks with their healthcare providers.

Asked whether retrospective studies such as the one Arnson will present next week at ACC sow damaging confusion in a field that has already seen its fair share, Berman disagreed.

I don't think that we should hold back science by saying that we're going to add confusion with new evidence, he said carefully. I think we have something here that is not completely solved, or else we wouldn't be having these individual patient discussions. This [study] provides a piece of evidence that suggests that women who have a moderate amount of plaque in their arteries might be appropriate people to consider taking this medication.

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Does Hormone Replacement Therapy Curb Atherosclerosis? New Imaging Study Opens Old Questions - TCTMD

Bone was recently found to be part of the endocrine system, which means it releases hormones into the blood. Now, a new study in Nature has found that Lipocalin 2 (LCN2) is among the hormones that bone secretes. The hormone can suppress appetite in mice, revealing a previously unknown type of appetite regulation that has possible weight loss applications.

We spoke with study author Stavroula Kousteni of Columbia University about the work.

ResearchGate: What was the motivation behind this study?

Stavroula Kousteni: Our interest was to examine whether bone, acting as an endocrine organ, could secrete hormones to regulate energy homeostasis, perhaps by regulating additional and yet unknown metabolic functions. Studies from our laboratory supported this notion, because they had shown that mice lacking 50 percent of their osteoblasts, cells that facilitate bone formation, had an increase in appetite. So, we initiated a search for a protein secreted by osteoblasts that would regulate appetite.

RG: What did you find?

Kousteni: We found that Lipocalin 2 is released into the blood by osteoblasts, crosses the blood-brain barrier, binds to a receptor in the brains hypothalamus, and activates a signaling pathway that suppresses appetite.

After a meal, Lipocalin 2 levels in the serum of mice rapidly increase, and this increase is required for suppression of appetite after eating.

RG: Can you tell us about the significance of these results?

Kousteni: The finding broadens our understanding of how appetite is controlled and provides another tool for potentially translating these findings into the clinic.

Since the underlying mechanisms that regulate appetiteand the abnormal glucose metabolism and obesity associated with metabolic diseaseare not fully understood, the skeleton may provide new insights into the pathogenesis of these diseases.

RG: Do you think bone plays a similar role for humans?

Kousteni: I think that it most likely does. All hormones that have a function in rodents also have the same function in humans. For Lipocalin 2, we show that serum levels inversely correlate with body weight and the long-term blood sugar marker HbA1c in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Also, there is evidence in the literature that Lipocalin 2 serum levels increase in lean humans after a meal, just as we observed in mice. All these observations are indication of a similar type of regulation and function in humans.

RG: What applications could your findings have?

Kousteni: One of the key findings of this work was that exogenous Lipocalin 2 can supress appetite chronically in both lean and obese mice. This property, if reproduced in humans, can potentially find an application in weight loss treatment, since current appetite-regulating medications lose their suppressive effect with time.

RG: Whats next for your research?

Kousteni: We plan to generate a comprehensive picture of how bone regulates energy metabolism using Lipocalin 2. This approach will also reveal new signaling pathways and molecular targets that may find applications in the field of diabetes management. We would also like to understand the mechanism through which bone regulates Lipocalin 2 expression, and examine whether the pattern of regulation is conserved in humans.

Featured image ofOsteoblasts courtesy of Wikipedia.

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Hormone secreted by bones influences the appetite - ResearchGate - ResearchGate (blog)

Posted: 11:49 a.m. Wednesday, March 08, 2017

Texas Health Action says its clinic is partly a repudiation of the tone set at the Capitol.

The clinic hopes to offer a place transgender people can feel comfortable, community activists said.

As state lawmakers engage in a vitriolic debate about which bathrooms transgender people can use, a Central Texas nonprofit is opening the regions first transgender care clinic in Austin.

The nonprofit Kind Clinic, in a medical complex near 30th Street and Interstate 35, will provide free services such as hormone therapy specifically for people who are transgender, gender nonconforming or nonbinary. The services expand on the HIV-prevention work that the Texas Health Action nonprofit has been doing at the site since May 2015.

Joe McAdams, executive director of Texas Health Action, said the transgender-specific services were a logical extension of the organizations larger mission, a product of growing recognition of the LGBTQ communitys needs, and are intended as repudiation of the tone set at the Capitol.

Now is the time to be the antithesis of whats coming from the political side of the state, McAdams said. Thats why were leaning into this.

On Wednesday, Kelly Kline, a clinic patient and transgender rights advocate, talked quietly in one of the exam rooms with the clinic director, Cynthia Brinson, about her health. The topic quickly turned to the Capitol, where Kline testified Tuesday against Senate Bill 6, the so-called bathroom bill that would prohibit transgender-friendly bathroom, locker room and changing room policies in public schools, universities and in government buildings. The measure would also overturn city and county requirements for transgender bathrooms and prohibit cities and counties from withholding contracts based on a companys bathroom policy.

I had to use the bathroom (in the Capitol), and they gave me the ugliest looks, Kline said. She shrugged and added, I love my community, so I had to be there.

Later, she said of the clinic: I cant stress enough how important it is to walk into a place where we dont feel judged.

A Senate committee ultimately endorsed the bill early Wednesday, despite overwhelming testimony against it.

The Austin clinic, which begins offering its services Thursday, is intended partly to offer transgender people, particularly low-income ones, a place they can feel comfortable seeking medical services, managers and community activists said.

Competent and knowledgeable medical care is extremely important, and extremely hard to find in Texas for transgender people, said Meghan Stabler, a transgender board member of the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates on various lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer issues.

Stabler said the standard medical path is often unavailable to low-income people who dont identify with their birth sex. Patients often need counseling on gender identification, referrals to medical specialists when seeking hormone therapy, periodic checkups to ensure the hormones are working properly, and sometimes surgery.

The alternative, Stabler said, can be black-market distributors for hormones and reliance on a medically unsupervised, often criminal enterprise, which puts them at greater risk.

If you dont have a good job, you may not have access to good health insurance, and you may not have been able to go to an endocrinologist, Stabler said. I think this clinic is important for people who need advice, who need care, and who ultimately need hormones.

The Austin clinic, which Stabler said was similar to one in Houston, opened in 2015 primarily to reduce HIV transmission among LGBTQ communities by, among other measures, prescribing pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, a medication that prevents HIV transmission. The clinic helps patients afford medication partly through donations, partly through a complicated federal process that, boiled down, amounts to patients with insurance subsidizing some of the cost of providing the medication to uninsured patients, McAdams said.

The HIV medication costs an insurer about $1,500 a month, while HIV treatment drugs can cost about double that, he said.

The clinic now has 800 patients, he said. It is, he added, the fastest-growing PrEP clinic in the country.

Brinson often answers charges that the clinic is encouraging unsafe sex by replying, Well, people are already having condomless sex, so lets take care of their needs as we can.

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First clinic specifically serving transgender needs opens in Austin - MyStatesman.com

Posted: 10:35 a.m., March 7, 2017

The Mediterranean diet -- one heavy on veggies, nuts and fruit, with limits on meat and dairy -- is the way to go. Study after study has shown it is the key to help you live longer and puts you at a lower risk for cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

The Mediterranean diet -- one heavy on veggies, nuts and fruit, with limits on meat and dairy -- is the way to go. Study after study has shown it is the key to help you live longer and puts you at a lower risk for cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

(CNN) A study published in the International Journal of Cancer on Monday suggests that the Mediterranean diet may reduce the risk of estrogen-receptor-negative breast cancer, a postmenopausal form of the disease with a poor prognosis.

The study, which was conducted in the Netherlands, followed 62,573 women ages 55 to 69 who tracked their diets for more than 20 years starting in 1986 as part of a cohort study. During the study, 3,354 participants developed breast cancer. After excluding cases based on a history of cancer or incomplete dietary data, research analyzed 2,321 breast cancer cases.

The researchers found that post-menopausal estrogen-receptor-negative breast cancer was 40% less prevalent in those who adhered closely to the Mediterranean diet.

The Mediterranean diet emphasizes eating mostly plant-based foods, such as fruits, legumes, unrefined grains and olive oil, as well as fish. Traditionally, the diet allows for small amounts of wine consumption, but because there is a known link between alcohol and breast cancer, it was excluded from this study.

Many interpretations of the diet have been developed, but for this study, following the guidelines of the Mediterranean diet strictly was key.

In the past, research has shown the Mediterranean diet is a key to longer lives, stronger bones and lower risk of cardiovascular disease and even other cancer.

Diet is a significant factor in preventing breast cancer as it is one of the most modifiable lifestyle changes that women can undertake to prevent breast cancer, said Dr. Sandhya Pruthi, a professor at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, who was not involved in the research. The plant and vegetable based diet with fish and monosaturated fat are key components of this diet and have a positive impact in lowering breast cancer incidence.

Some breast cancer cells have receptors that are sensitive to the bodys naturally occurring hormones. Receptor positive breast cancers are often responsive to hormone treatments. Receptive-negative cancers are not, which leaves patients with fewer options for treatment.

I was most impressed by the significant reduction in the receptor negative breast cancer with adherence to the Mediterranean diet, Pruthi said. This study is an important contribution to the efforts being studied to prevent (estrogen-receptor, progesterone-receptor)-negative breast cancer which is known to be more aggressive and higher risk of recurrence.

She noted that more than 250,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the US. Prevention studies are very important in potentially reducing the number of invasive breast cancer diagnosed in the US annually.

Coaches help college basketball player battling terminal cancer check item off bucketlist

Mom battling breast cancer says she was violated and humiliated during TSAsearch

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Mediterranean diet linked to lower risk of breast cancer type, study says - WGNO

On the occasion of International Womens Day, Bourn Hall Fertility Centre, Dubai, is offering all women in the UAE a chance to get a free fertility health check throughout March at their clinic in Jumeirah. The fertility check would include a free AMH, FSH and LH hormone blood tests to assess a females ovarian reserve and help determine her fertility potential.

The free screening will be particularly beneficial to women under the age of 38 years who are considering delaying pregnancy, and those with a family history of ovarian failure, autoimmune disease, chemotherapy or previous surgery to the ovaries.

However, it will be equally helpful to all women - married or unmarried, those planning to have a family or not to give them an idea of their child-bearing abilities. Depending on the results, one can choose to have egg-freezing as an option, or can start a family earlier than planned.

The egg quantity and quality declines with age - beginning in the early 30s and faster in the late 30s and early 40s. A healthy, fertile 30-year-old woman has about a 20% chance of getting pregnant each month. By the time she reaches the age of 40, her chances are less than 5% per month and this is usually due to the decrease in the number and quality of eggs. As a woman ages, so do her eggs and the internal structures of the egg become more debilitated and is less likely to thrive. Therefore, women with low ovarian reserve have diminished fertility and an increased risk of miscarriage, said Dr Shazia Magray, Specialist OBGYN at Bourn Hall Fertility Centre.

As per a news report released last year, around 50 percent of the women in UAE face infertility issues, which is on the rise.

Dr. Shazia added: As a precaution, it is important that women take stock of their fertility health, so that they can make informed decisions on when to start a family and related treatment can be sought earlier than later. With increasing age, achieving a viable and healthy pregnancy does become a big challenge and can lead to chromosomal abnormalities leading to birth of children with genetic diseases. It appears that the best eggs are ovulated first and the low quality, genetically imbalanced ones are released in later years so there is always merit in starting family early on.

Bourn Hall Fertility Centre is an active campaigner, imparting education on fertility issues in both men and women. Besides organizing free screening, the Centre conducts regular seminars and talks, encouraging people to assess their fertility health and take timely measures to avoid complications later.

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Dubai clinic offering free fertility tests for women throughout March ... - Emirates 24|7

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Phoenix, AZ (SBWIRE) 03/06/2017 Many women find their lives deeply affected by symptoms of stress and hormonal imbalance, such as tiredness, mood swings, depression, lack of focus, and weight gain. Their productivity at work and relationships at home also suffer. Doctor Allie suffered adrenal fatigue, underactive thyroid, and of course perimenopause herself so she knows where many women are coming from! She can help women of all ages to break free from their hormone prison & live life with vitality again through her functional medicine & bio-identical hormone clinic in Hove, United Kingdom or online.

Dr. Allison Grimston graduated as a Medical Doctor from Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School (now Imperial College School of Medicine) in 1994. She was awarded honors in Gynecology. She obtained a BSc in Pharmacology as Applied to Medicine and an MPhil at St Marys Hospital in Paddington. She joined a General Practice in Hailsham in 1999 as a full-time GP where she worked until June 2016. For a year, she was also a Governing Body member of the Eastbourne, Hailsham and Seaford Clinical Commissioning Group which is a GP-led membership organization responsible for commissioning most of the health services for local people. Doctor Allie empowers women through her functional medicine & bio-identical hormone clinic in Hove, UK and online.

In 2014, Doctor Allie Grimston launched her coaching and mentoring programs to help patients and other coaches achieve Hormone Success through a unique, combined approach that considers medical application of Bio Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy and effective lifestyle management. She is an accomplished professional speaker and her online workshops reach people in the UK and countries as far apart as New Zealand, Australia, USA and Canada. Doctor Allies popular workshops focus on adrenal fatigue, stress and burnout, thyroid balance, and menopause.

Doctor Allie will join The Womb Happy Hour on VoiceAmerica Health and Wellness channel on March 8, 2017 at 3PM Pacific / 6 PM EST. Archives of The Womb Happy Hour can be found on https://www.voiceamerica.com/show/2634/the-womb-happy-hour. Lorraine Giordano is the founder of Inspired To Health http://www.inspiredtohealth.net. She is dedicated to helping women live healthful lives.

For more information about Dr. Alison Grimston and to access her valuable hormone resources or have her speak at an event contact Dr. Alison at http://www.doctorallie.com.

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Doctor Allie International Hormone Success Doctor Joins the ... - Satellite PR News (press release)

Hormone Replacement Therapy

Hormones are a key part of the way your body functions.They are the chemical messengers secreted by the many glands of the endocrine system. Some of the most important hormones are: testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, human growth hormone, estrogen, and the thyroid hormones. The production and secretion of these crucial hormones all decrease over time, leading to the difficulties and conditions we normally relate to ageing. Hormone Replacement Therapies are all about renewing vitality by giving you back what age takes away. Read More

Testosterone is one of the most important hormones for men. Many of the conditions that you think are just normal signs of aging slower metabolism, gaining weight, feeling tired, feeling moody, and memory issues may actually be due to low testosterone. In addition, while many factors other than age from diet to stress, to sleep can all affect your sex drive or libido, the drop in testosterone that occurs as men age, is often the cause of sexual wellness issues. Read More

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Hormone Therapy Clinic | Human Growth Hormone ...

Planned Parenthood, ever the bastion of healthcare for many people throughout the United States, has improved their care with the integration of transgender hormone replacement therapy services. According to the programs new website, theyre offering,hormone therapy for transgender and gender nonconforming patients. They go on to also say, We also offer the full range of sexual and reproductive health care to people of all genders and identities.

The introduction of the program in New York actually began back in November, according to an e-mail from Planned Parenthood New Yorks Director of Digital and Media Relations, Carrie Mumah. With the addition of Planned Parenthood New York, hormone replacement therapy is now being offered in 16 different states in the U.S..

The move comes at a pretty heated time when transgender equality and rights are under severe fire from the federal government. Just last week, the Justice and Education departments moved to rescind an Obama-era guideline protecting transgender students from discrimination based on their gender identity. Although this was an expected move, it nonetheless causedwaves throughout those communities fighting for equality for all LGBTQIA identities.

As well, Planned Parenthood has seen better days, as theyve consistently faced legislation that threatens to defund and otherwise bankrupt the healthcare organization. As part of the bill pushed forward to gut the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), the funding Planned Parenthood receives from the federal government will also be pulled. But through various charity drives and organized donations since the election, Planned Parenthood hasseen an unprecedented40-fold increase in donations(as of December, at least).

Of course, that can only last for so long. The misinformation campaign that exists around Planned Parenthoods very existence is still going strong, and thus, the misconception that they only exist to offer abortions continues to run rampant. Its unfortunate, and bears a resemblance to the ACA/Obamacare mix-up debacle that has many Trump supporters reconsidering just what the hell theyve gotten us all into.

The move to ensure trans people get the hormones and healthcare they need is a sorely needed one, and its yet another reason as to why organizations like Planned Parenthood deserve our support.

(via Uproxx, image via Shutterstock)

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Planned Parenthood New York Now Offers Transgender Hormone Replacement Therapy - The Mary Sue

BOSTON (March 6, 2017)An epidemiological analysis of data from more than 6,000 American and Canadian women with breast cancer finds that post-diagnosis consumption of foods containing isoflavonesestrogen-like compounds primarily found in soy foodis associated with a 21 percent decrease in all-cause mortality. This decrease was seen only in women with hormone-receptor-negative tumors, and in women who were not treated with endocrine therapy such as tamoxifen.

The study, led by nutrition and cancer epidemiologist Fang Fang Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, was published March 6 in Cancer.

At the population level, we see an association between isoflavone consumption and reduced risk of death in certain groups of women with breast cancer. Our results suggest, in specific circumstances, there may be a potential benefit to eating more soy foods as part of an overall healthy diet and lifestyle, said Zhang, who is also the 2016-2017 Miriam E. Nelson Tisch Faculty Fellow at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life and an adjunct scientist in nutritional epidemiology at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts.

Since we only examined naturally occurring dietary isoflavone, we do not know the effect of isoflavone from supplements. We recommend that readers keep in mind that soy foods can potentially have an impact, but only as a component of an overall healthy diet, she adds.

Isoflavones have been shown to slow the growth of breast cancer cells in laboratory studies, and epidemiological analyses in East Asian women with breast cancer found links between higher isoflavone intake and reduced mortality. However, other research has suggested that the estrogen-like effects of isoflavones may reduce the effectiveness of endocrine therapies used to treat breast cancer. Because of this double effect, it remains unknown whether isoflavone consumption should be encouraged or avoided by breast cancer patients.

In the current study, Zhang and her colleagues, including Esther John, Ph.D., senior cancer epidemiologist at the Cancer Prevention Institute of California, analyzed data on 6,235 American and Canadian breast cancer patients from the Breast Cancer Family Registry, a National Cancer Institute-funded program that has collected clinical and questionnaire data on enrolled participants and their families since 1995. Women were sorted into four quartile groups based on the amount of isoflavone they were estimated to have consumed, calculated from self-reported food frequency questionnaires. Mortality was examined after a median follow-up of 9.4 years.

The team found a 21 percent decrease in all-cause mortality among women in the highest quartile of intake, when compared to those in the lowest quartile. The association between isoflavone intake and reduced mortality was strongest in women with tumors that lacked estrogen and progesterone receptors. Women who did not receive endocrine therapy as a treatment for their breast cancer had a weaker, but still significant association. No associations were found for women with hormone-receptor-positive tumors and for women who received endocrine therapy.

While the study categorized women in the highest quartile as those who consumed 1.5 milligrams or more of isoflavone per dayequivalent to a few dried soybeansthe authors caution that individuals tend to underestimate their food intake when filling out questionnaires.

The comparisons between high and low consumption in our study are valid, but our findings should not be interpreted as a prescription, Zhang said. However, based on our results, we do not see a detrimental effect of soy intake among women who were treated with endocrine therapy, which has been hypothesized to be a concern. Especially for women with hormone-receptor-negative breast cancer, soy food products may potentially have a beneficial effect and increase survival.

The large size and diverse racial/ethnic makeup of the Breast Cancer Family Registry allowed the researchers to evaluate mortality risk across different subtypes of breast cancer and subgroups of patients, and adjust for confounding factors. However, the authors note that dietary isoflavone intake was correlated with socioeconomic and lifestyle factors, which may also play a role in lowering mortality. In particular, women who consumed higher levels of dietary isoflavone were more likely to be Asian Americans, young, physically active, more educated, not overweight, never smokers, and drink no alcohol. Although the team controlled for these factors in the analyses, the possibility of a partial confounding effect on the associations identified in the study cannot be ruled out.

Whether lifestyle factors can improve survival after diagnosis is an important question for women diagnosed with hormone-receptor negative breast cancer, a more aggressive type of breast cancer. Our findings suggest that survival may be better in patients with a higher consumption of isoflavones from soy food, John said.

Additional authors on this study are Danielle E. Haslam, nutritional epidemiology doctoral candidate at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, Mary Beth Terry, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology at Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, Julia A. Knight, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and senior investigator at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System in Toronto, Irene L. Andrulis, Ph.D., professor of molecular genetics at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and senior investigator at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System in Toronto, Mary Daly, M.D., Ph.D., chair and professor in the department of clinical genetics and director of risk assessment program at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Saundra S. Buys, M.D., medical director of Huntsman Cancer Institute's high risk breast cancer clinic and a professor in the department of medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine.

This work was supported by an award from National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (CA164920).

Zhang, F. F., Haslam, D. E., Terry, M. B., Knight, J.A., Andrulis, I. L., Daly, M., Buys, S.S., and John, E. M. (2017). Dietary isoflavone intake and all-cause mortality in breast cancer survivors: the Breast Cancer Family Registry. Cancer. Published online: March 6, 2017. DOI: 10.1002/cncr.30615.

URL upon publication: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/cncr.30615

About the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University

The Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University is the only independent school of nutrition in the United States. The schools eight degree programs which focus on questions relating to nutrition and chronic diseases, molecular nutrition, agriculture and sustainability, food security, humanitarian assistance, public health nutrition, and food policy and economics are renowned for the application of scientific research to national and international policy.

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Isoflavones in food associated with reduced mortality for women with some breast cancers - Tufts Now

Debra Pugh 2015

Debra Pugh 2015

Walking has many Health Benefit

There are many different forms of exercise for beginners to experts, with various health benefits too. One basic form of exercise is walking. It is a gentle, low impact exercise that has many benefits to improve a persons health. It is safe, simple, does not require a certain skill, or practice, and does not cost any money.

Hippocrates said that walking is mans best medicine. Thousands of years later, experts are still discovering the many benefits of a daily walking program which is explained below by the Mayo Clinic and the Arthritis Foundation.

Heart Health

Walking can reduce the risk of heart attack or strokes. It lowers the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) and at the same time it raises the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the good cholesterol). It also lowers peoples blood pressure.

Diabetes

Walking can decrease the chance of getting Type 2 diabetes. If a person already has this diagnosis, it can help to manage the symptoms. It can also lower peoples insulin level.

Weight Loss

Walking can help people to lose weight. A pound of fat is the same as 3,500 calories. The faster a person walks then the more calories they burn. Walking tones the muscles throughout the body, but especially tones the legs and the core muscles of the back, waist and abdomen. The more muscle a person has, then the higher the metabolism will be which means that they burn more calories. If a person has a healthy weight, it takes pressure off of the hips, knees, ankles and feet which can reduce pain. Walking also reduces the stress hormone cortisol which is known to cause weight gain.

Arthritis

Because walking is a weight bearing activity, it strengthens the bones which can help to prevent osteoporosis (a form of arthritis where bones become more fragile and likely to fracture). The movement increases the production of synovial fluid (lubricates the knees) which can decrease pain and stiffness. Walking can also lower the risk of blood clots by helping the calf muscles squeeze deep veins and keep blood pumping back to the heart.

Brain Health

Studies show that walking can decrease the risk of Alzheimers disease and age related dementia. It can improve a persons mood by helping them to feel less anxious or sad. Because of the increase of blood flow and oxygen to the brain, it can improve peoples memory. Ginkgo Sense is a supplement made from the ginkgo plant and it has been known to help peoples memory for over 3,000 years.

For people who are looking for a simple way to improve their health, take the advice of Hippocrates when he said walking is mans best medicine and reap the many health benefits. For help with energy in starting a walking program, try Peak Endurance. It is a natural berry flavored drink that is packed with many B vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, and ATP (adenosine triphosphate that decreases as we age) that improves energy, metabolism, stress, aging, and thinking clearer. It only has 30 calories, 0 fat, and 1 gram of natural sugar from the stevia plant.

(Debra Pugh, author of the book, Fibromyalgia and Fatigue: A Recipe for Feeling Fit and Healthy, has a bachelors degree, is a certified personal trainer, and a certified sports nutritionist. She hasover 25 years of experience in counseling people in Health and Wellness such as weight loss, exercise, nutrition, increased energy, balance, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, auto-immune disorders, arthritis, hormones, toxins, cleansers, and supplements. For more information or to buy a book, call 806-298-5504, email DebraPugh@windstream.net, or website at http://www.FibroAndFit4Life.com.)

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Walking has many Health Benefit - Plainview Daily Herald

As the Trump Administration backs away from certain legal protections for transgender Americans the city-run hospital system has opened its first center for transgender patients looking to undergo gender-reassignment surgery. Health Reporter Erin Billups has the details.

Brandi Concepcion says a 40-year journey to find her place in society brought her to Metropolitan Hospital in Harlem, part of the the city's municipally run hospital system.

"I went through the year of therapy that was required," Concepcion said. "Just to make sure that this was the right choice for me. I started with hormones after I was given my initial letter. It took me like a year to start dressing more feminine like. Wearing makeup, letting my hair grow. And here we are, three years later."

Conception will be one of the first transgender patients to undergo "top surgery" at the city-run hospital, also known as breast augmentation or chest masculinization surgery, depending on the gender change. It's part of Metropolitan's newly expanded LGBTQ services.

"It was just something that was part of our journey as a hospital of becoming a place where we listen and respond to the needs of our patients was a no brainer in terms of what we needed to add to our program," said Sarah Bender, the hospital's director of LGBTQ services.

Patients will soon see the difference, including a clinic within the hospital with its own unique signage.

Concepcion says after growing up male in the deep South, and becoming accustomed to others' discomfort with her, it's nice to have a place to go to for medical care centered on her comfort.

She says acceptance of who she is has led to a healthier life.

"I lived off anti-anxiety pills," she said. "I lived off a lot of medications, which surely was not good for me. I wasa chain smoker. I would drink about a twelve-pack of soda a day. I was unproductive. I lived off SSI. Today I am employed. I went back to school. I live on my own."

Medicaid now covers medically necessary hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgeries, but there are questions whether the Trump administration will continue those policies. The city-run hospital system says it intends to maintain its services for the transgender community.

"It's our mission as the public health system of New York City to provide care to anybody regardless of a whole host of identifying factors, gender identity included," Bender said. "So, you know, we're going to continue to push forward I think regardless."

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Municipal Hospital System Opens NYC's First Public Clinic Offering Gender-Reassignment Surgery - NY1

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Despite what social pressures may lead us to believe, theres no magical age when it comes to getting pregnant and starting a family. When I was pregnant with my first child, I was 27. For me, it felt like the perfect age I wasnt too young and I wasnt too old, either. Plus, by starting in my twenties, I figured I had plenty of time to give my baby siblings down the road. My husband and I were married for two years first, withstable jobs and a decent amount of savings in the bank. The timing felt more than just right.

That said, once my daughter arrived, things got complicated. As a freelance writer, I dont work full-time in an office. And if I did, I couldnt commit to being a full-time mom at home in the way I do now. Many years (and one kid)later, Im honestly still trying to figure out this whole work-lifebalance thing, and how that plays into my role as a mother. And Im certainly not alone.

For many couples, the question over when to start a family and how it might impact their career paths in the process is fraught with many what ifs.According to New York Magazine, thats also the reason why so many millennial couples are now choosing to freeze their eggs, so they can put parenting on hold while they chase their corporate dreams.

Its called elective freezing, and has become so popular that there are actuallyboutique egg freezing clinics in big cities all across the country that cater to couples whod like to delay parenthood a bit longer. One such clinic, Extend Fertility, is located in midtown Manhattan inNew York City, where its solely focused on removing and storing a womans eggs, as opposed to just treating infertility and offering in-vitro fertilization.

During theegg freezing process, a patient undergoes the same hormone-injection process as they would during in-vitro fertilization. The only difference is that following egg retrieval, they are frozen for a period of time before theyre thawed, fertilized, and transferred to the uterus as embryos.

Trust Me, There's Never a "Perfect" Time to Have Kids

According to New York Magazine, the boutique clinics also solve another issue: Many women who choose this process have expressed mixed emotions about going to a clinic where other women are actively tryingto get pregnant. Some even say it makes them feel selfish for wanting to put motherhood on hold while seeing others struggle to conceive at the same time.

As Martin Varsavsky, an entrepreneur who raised over $200 million for his fertility start-up, told the mag:

Its sort of like we are customizing the experience for young working women who want to get in and out. These are not women who are traumatized because they cant have a child.

Makes sense, right?

As hard as the work-life equation is, I cant say that I wish I had waited longer before having children myself. Ive always told my friends and family that when my children are old enough to take care of their physical needs on their own, Ill go back to work full-time. Theres no such thing as too late.

But my own experience aside, I do see how freezing your eggs can make the timing a little easier, in a whole lot of ways. And for single women entering their thirties, I can certainly see how the idea of egg freezing is especially appealing, because it gives them more time to find the right partner without having to worry about their ticking biological clocks. After all, peak fertility years do coincide with our peak career-buildingones for better or worse. But hey, if theres a way to extend those years (and take off a little stress in the process), then I say, why not?

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Boutique Egg Freezing Clinics Are the Latest Trend for Those Looking to Delay Parenthood - Babble (blog)

- Couples who are obese may take longer to achieve pregnancy than partners who aren't as overweight, a recent U.S. study suggests.

Previous studies in women have linked obesity to difficulties getting pregnant. In the current study, neither male nor female obesity alone was linked to taking a longer time to conceive, but when both partners were obese, the couple took up to 59 percent longer to conceive than non-obese counterparts.

"If our results are confirmed, fertility specialists may want to take couples' weight status into account when counseling them about achieving pregnancy," said lead study author Rajeshwari Sundaram of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Maryland.

"The benefits of a healthy weight are well known: obesity increases the risk for diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer," Sundaram added by email.

Sundaram and colleagues focused on the relationship between pregnancy and body mass index (BMI), a ratio of weight to height. A BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered a healthy weight, while 25 to 29.9 is overweight, 30 or above is obese and 40 or higher is what's known as morbidly obese. (The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has an online BMI calculator here: http://bit.ly/1D0ZqDv.)

An adult who is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds, for example, would have a BMI of 23.6, which is in the healthy range. An obese adult at that height would weigh at least 203 pounds and have a BMI of 30 or more.

Researchers categorized individuals into two subgroups: obese class I, with a BMI from 30 to 34.9, and obese class II, with a BMI of 35 or greater.

Overall, 27 percent of the women and 41 percent of the men were obese class I or heavier.

Then, the researchers compared the average time to conceive for couples where neither partner was obese to couples where both fell into the obese class II group.

Couples in the obese class II group took 55 percent longer to achieve pregnancy than their normal weight counterparts, the study team calculated.

After accounting for other factors that influence fertility such as age, smoking status, exercise and cholesterol levels, obese class II couples took 59 percent longer to get pregnant.

About 40 percent of the men and 47 percent of the women also had enough excess fat around the midsection to potentially influence fertility.

In addition, 60 percent of the women and 58 percent of the men said they exercised no more than once a week, the researchers report in Human Reproduction.

Beyond its small size, another limitation of the study is that it wasn't a controlled experiment designed to determine whether obesity directly causes infertility, the authors note. It also focused on couples in the general population, not people undergoing treatment for infertility, so the results might not reflect what would happen for all couples trying to conceive, the researchers point out.

However, unlike many other studies of obesity and fertility, the current analysis used height and weight measured by clinicians instead of relying on participants to report this information themselves, which may make the findings more accurate.

Obesity can influence fertility by altering hormone levels in both men and women, converting testosterone to estrogen, said Dr. Jeffrey Goldberg, section head of reproductive endocrinology at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

"If you have more fat there is more conversion from testosterone to estrogen," Goldberg, who wasn't involved in the study, said.

It makes sense that obese couples would take longer to conceive because excess weight doesn't just impact fertility in women.

"For women extra weight impairs ovulatory function," Goldberg said. "For guys, having lower testosterone and higher estrogen impairs sperm production and having a lot of fat around the scrotum, fat thighs and fat around the abdomen raises the scrotal temperature and that can also have an adverse effect."

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Obese couples may take longer to conceive - Fox News

For mostof us,stressis just apart of life. It can last for a few hours like the time leading up to a final exam or for years like when youre taking care of an ailing loved one.

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Stress is sometimesa motivator that helpsyou rise to the occasion. At other times, its simply overwhelming. Whatever the case, if its chronic, it can takea toll on your immune system.

Clinical immunologistLeonard Calabrese, DO, offers insights on how stress impacts your immunity and what you can do to minimize the effect.

Eliminating or modifying these factors in ones life is vital to protect and augment the immune response, he says. Its necessary to buffer the inevitability of the aging process.

Stress occurs when life events surpass your abilities to cope. It causes your body to produce greater levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

In short spurts, cortisolcan boost your immunity by limitinginflammation. But over time, your body can get used to having too much cortisol in your blood. And this opensthe door for more inflammation, Dr. Calabrese says.

In addition, stress decreases the bodys lymphocytes the white blood cells that help fight off infection. The lower your lymphocyte level, the more at risk you are for viruses, including the common cold and cold sores.

High stress levels also can causedepressionand anxiety, again leading to higher levels of inflammation.In the long-term, sustained, high levels of inflammation point to an overworked, over-tired immune system that cant properly protect you.

If you dont control high stress levels, chronic inflammation can accompany it and can contribute to the development and progression of many diseases of the immune system such as:

Under sustained, long-term stress, you also can develop cardiovascular problems, including a fast heart rate andheart disease, as well as gastric ulcers. Youll also be at greater risk fortype 2 diabetes, various cancers and mental decline.

Stress reduction strategies not only give your mind a break, but they can also relieve the pressure on your immune system. You can take steps to reduce short-term and long-term stress, Dr. Calabrese says. Two tactics are most effective:

Stress in acute situations, however, can be healthful and protective, so its not all bad for us. Remember: its chronic stress that we seek to control.

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What Happens When Your Immune System Gets Stressed Out? - Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic (blog)

Should an increased risk for colon cancer among young and middle-aged adults change screening recommendations?

A new study showing a dramatic rise in colorectal cancers in this non-traditional population meaning those under the age of 50 has many asking that question.

So far, though, screening guidelines remain the same, which has researchers pushing for people to know the warning signs, the risks of their lifestyle factors, and their genetic risks. Experts are searching for less invasive screening procedures as well.

The new study, led by the American Cancer Society, finds that those born after 1990 have double yes, double the risk for colon cancer and quadruple the risk for rectal cancers compared to those born around 1950. Researchers believe the underlying cause may be due to the ever-increasing weight of the nation, unhealthy diets, and sedentary lifestyles.

Related: Cancer Kills, Even at Age 20

Our finding that colorectal cancer risk for millennials has escalated back to the level of those born in the late 1800s is very sobering, Rebecca Siegel, MPH, strategic director of Surveillance Information Services at the American Cancer Society, said in a press release.

Educational campaigns are needed to alert clinicians and the general public about this increase to help reduce delays in diagnosis, which are so prevalent in young people, but also to encourage healthier eating and more active lifestyles to try to reverse this trend, she added.

Another large international study this week in the BMJ links obesity with cancersmainly of the digestive organs as well as hormone-related malignancies.Strong associations were found betweena high body mass index (BMI) with risk of esophageal, bone marrow, and colon (in men), rectal (in men), biliary tract system, pancreatic, endometrial (in premenopausal women), and kidney cancers.

Weight gain was also associated with a higher risk ofgall bladder, gastric cardia, and ovarian cancers, and mortality from multiple myeloma.

Only about 38percentof those prescribed a colonoscopy actually comply.

Current recommendations call for most people to be screened for colorectal cancer starting at age 50, unless they have a family history of the disease. The study authors, however, are proposing that screening be considered before age 50, especially as those who are younger and who develop the disease are diagnosed late-stage largely because theyve not been thinking cancer is a risk and have brushed off the symptoms for years.

"This has been something that has been of concern in the screening and cancer prevention communities," saidDr. Kiesel, a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic and assistant professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine."Would patients under the age of 50 but of average risk meaning, lacking a hereditary reason to be screened for colon cancer, benefit from screening at an earlier age?"

Kiesel told LifeZette that a "line in the sand" has been drawn around the age of 40: If screening begins then, would it make a meaningful dent in the course of the illness? "Weve hypothesized that we would, but there really isnt any data to support that decision-making. This study emphasizes that we need a higher level of research to determine if the benefit that we hope for will be realized."

The concern with screening too early is the cost versus the benefit. Procedures are often done that may not be necessary or do more harm than good to a patient. And screenings aren't cheap that is another consideration.

But we tend to avoid screenings anyway. We don't like the process. Only about 38percentof those prescribed a colonoscopy comply. Andrelying on patients to recognize the symptoms to catch a cancer early may be inadequate, said Kiesel.

Related: Five Wise Ways to Avoid Cancer

It's why he and the Mayo Clinic have worked withExact Sciencesto develop a less-invasive screening test, Cologuard.In June of 2016, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued an A rating to the newer screening option anoninvasive at-home stool DNA test, as well as virtual colonoscopy (CT colonography). The hope is that more Americans will be open to getting these less invasive screenings.

Until then, Americans can take some very simple steps to reduce the risk of colorectal cancers:eat more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains; get regular exercise; watch your weight; avoid tobacco; limit your alcohol; and know the signs. Where colorectal cancers are concerned specifically, any unintended weight loss, weakness and fatigue, or a change in bowel habits or blood in your stool that lasts more than a few days are signs that need to be checked by a physician.

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Even More Reason to Kick That Sedentary Lifestyle - LifeZette

Kelly Ripa made headlines earlier this month after saying on Live with Kelly that her husband, Mark Consuelos, is mean after sex, and while she backpedaled Wednesday by clarifying he is simply disinterested afterward, the damage had already been done. Ripas Feb. 9 admission, whether in jest or not, has been trending on various news sites, including this one, ever since.

Regardless of Ripas intention, her observations about her husbands post-sex behavior beg the question: Do men really get disinterestedafter sex? And if so, why?

Popular sciences explanation for men rolling over after ejaculation is a hormonal response alone, Dr. Raj Dasgupta, a professor of pulmonary and sleep medicine at the University of Southern California, and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, told Fox News.

THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON PORNOGRAPHY

However, experts argue the answer isnt so simple.

In fact, Dasgupta said, the conditions under which couples have sex often have as much to do with whether men or women get sleepy after sex as do their postcoital hormonal differences.

Its a balance of both, Dasgupta said.

Dasgupta explained that most couples have sex at night, potentially in cool, quiet rooms, likely in a comfortable bed in other words, the perfect environment for sleeping. And for those men who may have sleep apnea, the aforementioned conditions can create the perfect environment for dozing off.

If you have a male who has undiagnosed sleep apnea, theyre gonna be more tired than the average person, so it doesnt take a lot to tip them over, Dasgupta said.

According to data from the Cleveland Clinic, that may be a fair assessment. The hospital estimates nearly 22 million Americans suffer from sleep apnea a condition marked by shallow breathing that impacts quality sleep, and can lead to drowsiness and fatigue and men over age 40 are primarily at risk.

Hormones may also play a role in human behavior after sex, though.

9 FOODS THAT CAN HELP BOOST YOUR SEX DRIVE NATURALLY

Much of the research surrounding hormonal interactions following sex involve animals, Dasgupta said, but compared to women, men do have more of the hormone prolactin, which secretes after ejaculation and leads to whats called a relative refractory period. That post-stimulated stage is what animal studies have linked with sleepiness.

Also after ejaculation, the stress hormone cortisol decreases, while oxytocin, the feel-good hormone, increases promoting relaxation. And, if youre in a dark room, the hormone melatonin, which promotes sleep, increases, further encouraging men to fall into slumber, Dasgupta said.

At nighttime, the hormone vasopressin, or ADH (antidiuretic hormone) is also secreted after ejaculation. This is the same hormone that prevents us from getting up at night to use the bathroom, Dasgupta said, and it, too, promotes relaxation.

These are hormones that have been associated with ejaculation at night, said Dasgupta, stressing that much of the research does not draw a causative relationship, just a link. They may be some of the answers to why males are more sleepy at night, but its always gonna be a combo of the social aspects and some of the hormones together.

THIS SWEDISH POLITICIAN THINKS WORKERS SHOULD GET PAID SEX BREAKS

Ian Kerner, a licensed psychotherapist and sex counselor, told Fox News the answer may simply lie in the fundamental differences between men and womens sexual response cycle.

When men become aroused, Kerner said, blood surges to the genitals and eventually leads to ejaculation. Upon ejaculation, that blood flows out and men go into the aforementioned refractory period. Some men, usually those who are young, can go back to having sex immediately, while older men may take days, weeks or month until theyre rearing to go again.

But the main thing is, after a man ejaculates, he returns to the pre-aroused state, Kerner explained, and the neurochemical firework festival of orgasm also produces sort of an effect of relaxation and sleepiness.

After women reach orgasm, on the other hand, it takes longer for their blood flow to leave the genitals, so they do not return as quickly as men to a pre-aroused state, Kerner said.

Instead, he explained, They go into a semi-aroused state, and thats why a lot of women have the capacity to experience multiple orgasms, and remain a little more connected, interested and partner-focused after sex.

Meanwhile during orgasm, pent-up muscular stress in men and women gets released, which may lead men and women to drift into a relaxing state. But its the difference in men and womens aroused states that sometimes causes men to appear sleepier than women, Kerner said.

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That research, he pointed out, comes from researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson, who studied 10,000 hours of male and female orgasms by watching couples in 1950s. They are best known for their research on the human sexual response, on which they published a book of the same name in 1966.

The hit Showtime production "Masters of Sex" is thought to be based on Masters and Johnson's lives.

And yet, despite what's known about how male and female sexual response cycles differ, Kerner said he has counseled couples where the woman will be the one more prone to falling asleep, or either sex taking issue with his or her partner checking email or jumping out of bed after doing the dirty deed.

So I think its gender-based, but its also relationship based, Kerner said.

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The truth about why some men get sleepy after sex | Fox News - Fox News

Alex Harris, Miami Herald (TNS) 3:00 p.m. CT Feb. 25, 2017

Diana Guevara, 28, touches up her makeup as she visits the new LGBTQ medical center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017.(Photo: PATRICK FARRELL, TNS)

MIAMI She asked her mother for her new name.

Mom, when I was a baby, what would you have named me? If we could reverse all this and I was in your stomach again?

She got her answer: Diana Elizabeth Guevara.

It was the final touch on her new, true self. For everything else, the 28-year-old went to Dr. Christopher Salgado at the University of Miami, the lead surgeon at the hospitals new LGBTQ clinic.

Guevara used to identify as a male Miami-Dade police officer, until she injured herself and left the force. With time on her hands to think, Guevara realized what shed known since she was a third-grader: Shes a woman.

I knew I ticked differently, but I didnt know how, she said. Then I figured it out. Oh! Im trans.

Transgender people the T in LGBTQ are those born with sex organs that dont match their gender identities. Some trans people undergo complex (and expensive) surgeries to change their genitalia, facial features, vocal cords. Others choose to live out their true gender identities without altering their bodies.

For Guevara, changing herself physically was something so powerful and so important.

Word of mouth took her to Salgado, who had been performing the tricky surgeries for a few years by the time she saw him in 2012.

Diana Guevara, 28, gets a follow up exam by her Plastic Surgeon Dr. Christopher Salgado during a visit to the new LGBTQ medical center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017.(Photo: PATRICK FARRELL, TNS)

Even five years ago the surgeries were much less common than they are today, Salgado said during a recent tour of the clinic.

He never saw a single case during his residency in the late 1990s, and when he decided to study the surgery in-depth, his best option was a fellowship in Taiwan.

Much has changed since then.

In 2014, Medicare began covering hormone therapy and sexual reassignment surgery, following the trend set by European insurance companies. With more insurance money available for the costly surgeries, Salgado saw more and more patients. At the same time, media celebrities such as Laverne Cox and Caitlin Jenner raised the profile of trans people in the United States. Equality for and understanding of LGBTQ people became a hot topic.

UM opened its LGBTQ center in January to serve the needs of the growing population. The new clinic brings together specialists in urology, endocrinology and psychiatry, as well as a team of surgeons to accompany the patient into the operating room.

Salgado and other doctors can even perform multiple surgeries on a patient simultaneously, so after a marathon session the patient can emerge with everything done at once.

The university also hired Lauren Foster, a high-profile Miami Beach trans model and activist, as UMs first director of LGBTQ concierge services.

Trans patients live their lives in stealth mode, Foster said, so the clinic focuses on privacy. A lot of patients dont want people to know why theyre here.

Diana Guevara 28, visits the new LGBTQ medical center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017.(Photo: PATRICK FARRELL, TNS)

She said some wealthier patients, primarily from South America and Europe, have even used the hospitals rooftop helicopter pad as a discreet entrance and exit.

In its fledgling state, the clinic focuses primarily on trans patients, but thats rapidly changing.

Foster said other doctors in the hospital are reaching out and offering to integrate their services, like HIV tests, anal pap smears, or PrEP an HIV prevention treatment.

Dr. Wrood Kassira, who focuses on chest surgery and facial feminization, said the clinic sees about four new trans patients a week.

When she walks her patients through the surgery, she said they dont ask for drastic changes. They just want to be comfortable in their own skin.

They tell me, I dont want to be looked at funny. I dont want people to see me as the other gender, Kassira said.

But the power of gender affirmation surgery, as it is sometimes called, goes beyond that of just altering appearances. Research indicates the operation can drastically improve the mental health of trans people, who studies show are much more likely to attempt suicide than the general population.

Salgado likened the surgery to removing a cancerous tumor. Its life saving, he said.

Before the procedures, Guevara said, her life was emotionally draining. Even a quick trip to the mall left her on edge. But the day after her chest reconstruction, she looked in the mirror and cried tears of joy.

I was changing and being myself, she said. It doesnt seem like it should be such a big step, but it is.

Read or Share this story: http://www.gosanangelo.com/story/life/wellness/2017/02/25/these-transgender-patients-now-have-place-change-their-lives-all-once/98410294/

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These transgender patients now have a place to change their lives all at once - San Angelo Standard Times

The CDC says about 38 percent of American adults are considered clinically obese and 71 percent are overweight. Research shows that hormone imbalance can have a huge impact on this back-and-forth weight gain and wellness experts are seeing how balancing the hormones can help with weight loss.

In her hormone therapy clinic, Terri DeNeui says the benefits of hormone replacement therapy go beyond increased energy levels, mood and libido.

"After we would get their hormones balanced and some key nutrients in their thyroid, they would come back the next time and say, wow Ive lost ten to 15 pounds and I didnt even try, whats that about," said DeNeui.

Brandy Prince, a nurse practitioner, had issues such as having no energy, and a pattern of losing and gaining weight over and over.

"I was obese at 208 pounds and I felt terrible, I felt terrible about myself, I got out of bed every morning and everything just hurt," said Brandy Prince.

Using pellets that are inserted under the skin, brandy got testosterone, which helped her build muscle and her thyroid levels were increased. She slept better and she lost weight, eventually more than 50 pounds.

So the weight loss was not something that i expected or anticipated, but it was definitely a wonderful benefit," said prince.

"Hormones and whats going on inside the body at the cellular level where metabolism actually happens has got to be a part of any kind of weight loss regime, otherwise you are just gonna be spinning your wheels," said DeNeui.

Doctors say this type of hormone therapy has minimal risk factors and few side effects, although patients with a history of breast or prostate cancer may need further evaluation and doctors may consider alternate options for those patients.

MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS RESEARCH SUMMARY

TOPIC: Hormone Therapy Weight Loss REPORT: MB #4220

BACKGROUND: A person is considered obese when their weight is considered higher than what is healthy for their given height. To determine whether a person is obese or not, a body mass index test, or a BMI, is used. The BMI consist of taking the persons weight in kilograms and dividing it by the square of their height in meters. If the result number is higher than 30.0, then they are in the obese range. According to the CDC, around 36 percent of adults in the United States are obese. Those numbers are higher between 40-59 year olds (40%) and 60 and over year olds (37%), than in young adults between the ages of 20 and 39 (32%).

(Source: https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html)

OBESITY SOLUTIONS: Being obese is a condition that puts you in a higher risk for developing cholesterol problems, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart diseases and strokes. Furthermore, it can lead to a lower life expectancy. The solution to treating obesity is not an easy one since this is a complex problem. In order to lose the weight people have to understand that psychological, behavioral, social, economic and environmental factors contribute to the overall problem of obesity. One person may be obese because of heredity, while another may be because of the food they choose to eat. The solution for each obesity case will depend on the factors that are contributing to the problem.

(Source: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/aug/16/solutions-dealing-americas-obesity-problem/)

HORMONE THERAPY: Hormones are important in determining how your body functions. The reduction of certain hormones leads to a slower metabolism, increased abdominal fat and less energy for exercising, which results in weight being gained. Hormone therapy is a type of therapy that allows for the hormone imbalance to be restored. As a result, this therapy can help people who suffer from being overweight or obese because of hormonal problems. The therapy consists of using pellets that are inserted under the skin to receive the hormone that is needed for each body. The intake of hormones like testosterone, estrogen and progesterone can help with abdominal fat, thyroid levels, appetite, sugar cravings and insulin resistance.

(Source: http://thebiostation.com/resource-center/hormone-replacement-therapy-rc/gain-insight-on-how-hormone-replacement-therapy-can-help-you-lose-weight/ & Terri DeNeui)

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS REPORT, PLEASE CONTACT: Tara Vreeland 303-929-8363 tvreeland@promoteonpurpose.com

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Wellness experts use hormone balancing to fight obesity - WNDU-TV

The CDC says about 38 percent of American adults are considered clinically obese and 71 percent are overweight.

Research shows that hormone imbalance can have a huge impact on this back-and-forth weight gain. Now wellness experts are seeing how balancing the hormones can help with weight loss.

In her hormone therapy clinic, Terri Deneui says the benefits of hormone replacement therapy go beyond increased energy levels, mood and libido. She is a nurse practitioner with Evexias Medical Centers and says, "After we would get their hormones balanced and some key nutrients in their thyroid, they would come back the next time and say, 'Wow I've lost ten to 15 pounds and I didn't even try, what's that about.'"

That's what happened to brandy, a nurse practitioner, who had no energy, and a pattern of losing and gaining weight over and over.

Brandy Prince says, "I was obese at 208 pounds and I felt terrible, I felt terrible about myself, I got out of bed every morning and everything just hurt."

Using pellets that are inserted under the skin, Brandy got testosterone, which helped her build muscle and her thyroid levels were increased. She slept better and she lost weight, eventually more than 50 pounds.

Prince says, "So the weight loss was not something that i expected or anticipated, but it was definitely a wonderful benefit."

Deneui says, "Hormones and what's going on inside the body at the cellular level where metabolism actually happens has got to be a part of any kind of weight loss regime, otherwise you are just gonna be spinning your wheels."

Prince says, "It's not just my physical size, but my entire confidence, and my self-esteem has changed. I'm not the same person."

Doctors say this type of hormone therapy has minimal risk factors and few side effects, although patients with a history of breast or prostate cancer may need further evaluation and doctors may consider alternate options for those patients.

Read more:
Balancing hormones and weight loss - UPMatters.com

Contributor: Steven Nissen, MD

Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Policy

Most people know about commonrisk factors for heart attack, including smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and lack of exercise. These tend to be universal, meaning they can increase the risk in nearly anyone.

But there are other risk factors that put certain people at risk, or put people at risk under certain conditions. Lets talk about these lesser-known risk factors and who is likely to be affected.

Studies have shown that both intense anger and grief can cause a heart attack. It probably occurs from a sudden increase in heart rate and blood pressure triggered by the surprise.

Because many of us experience these emotions in our lifetime and live through them, they are probably more likely to negatively impact people who are already at increased risk for heart attack.

There is a condition called Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, which may imitate a heart attack, but is somewhat different. It tends to occur more often in women at times of intense grief and produces heart attack-like symptoms that cause sudden heart failure.

It is thought to be the result of an arterial spasm. With treatment, the heart failure often resolves after the grief subsides. Later testing generally shows no evidence of heart attack.

A bout of sudden, strenuous physical activity can lead to heart attack in people who are not physically fit.

It can happen from something as seemingly harmless as a pick-up game of basketball, or from lifting and carrying something heavy, such as a shovel full of snow. People who are not used to exercising, or have traditional risk factors for heart disease, are at increased risk.

Cold temperatures cause the arteries to constrict, which can cause a sudden increase in blood pressure. Combine this with physical exertion, such as shoveling snow, and the strain may be too much for some hearts to take. Every year, shoveling snow sends more than 11,000 people to the hospital at least 7 percent with heart trouble.

A heavy meal can occasionally trigger a heart attack. Researchers think it happens because eating raises levels of the hormone epinephrine, which can increase blood pressure and heart rate.

When you are diagnosed with a serious medical condition that seems unrelated to your heart, the risk of heart attack may not cross your mind. For this reason, the role of certain diseases in raising the risk of heart attack is often unappreciated.

Diseases known to increase the risk of heart attack include:

Any person with one of these conditions should see a cardiologist, in addition to their regular doctor.

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Have You Heard of These 5 Heart Attack Risk Factors? - Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic (blog)

Your boss is yelling at you. Your credit card was juststolen. Youre running late, and you cant find your car keys.

Stress happens.

And when it does, it triggers the bodys fight or flight response. Powerful hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol course through your bloodstream. They make your heart pound and your breathing go into overdrive.

This response evolved millenniums ago whenthe stresses people faced often involved threats to their physical well-being and required literal fight-or-flight decisions: Do battle with a saber-tooth cator run like mad?

These days, many stresses are chronic, involving long-term problems such as unfulfilling work, a shrinking bank account or an aging loved one. As you stew, your body releases those same powerful hormones. This, experts say, makes chronic stress more than mentally unpleasant it makes it a health concern.

Chronic stress correlates with many physical ailments, from colds to cancer, said Dr. Emanuel Maidenberg , a clinical professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at UCLA. Its thought to reduce the effectiveness of your immune system, so youre more likely to become ill in whatever area youre vulnerable, he said.

It also increases inflammation in the body, said Dr. Helen Lavretsky , a geriatric psychiatristat UCLA, and can lead to cognitive and memory problems, as well as insomnia, anxiety and depression.

So, what to do?

Brain science offers some clues. Dr.Bruce Rabin , medical director of the Healthy Lifestyle Program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, noted that increased oxygen flow to the brain calms down regions that tend to get activated by stress and cause those stress-hormone levels to rise. This suggests that you can reduce the effects of stress by increasing your intake of oxygen, he said.

One good way to do that, of course, is by exercising. Less obvious, perhaps, but also proved: You take in more oxygen when you laugh.

Meditation and yoga are also useful for some people, Lavretsky said, while music and dance can help others.

Dont expect instant results.

You can learn to manage stress, Maidenberg said. You can develop a set of tools for bringing the level down. That cant happen overnight though. You have to practice.

See more here:
Feeling stressed? Try these proven methods for chilling out - Los Angeles Times