hormone

The study found that oxytocin had heart-healing properties.Researchers have found that oxytocin, sometimes known as the “love hormone,” may one day help heal damaged hearts after a heart attack.The neurohormone oxytocin is widely recognized for fostering social connections and producing pleasurable feelings, such as those associated with sex, exercise, or art. However, the hormone has a variety of other functions, such as the regulation of lactation and uterine contractions in females, and the regulation of ejaculation,…

Scientists in Japan have shown that a derivative of the “love hormone” oxytocin, delivered intranasally, can improve the memory of mice suffering from amyloid beta-induced cognitive impairment.Scientists reveal how an intranasally delivered oxytocin derivative could be used to treat <span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>Alzheimer’s</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>Alzheimer's disease is a disease that attacks the…

PSY receptor mutant (right) and wild type (left). PSY receptor mutant is less stress tolerant, but its growth is facilitated. Credit: Dr. Yoshikatsu MatsubayashiCrops often grow under unfavorable conditions. Factors such as disease, extreme temperatures, and salty soils force plants to use energy to respond to the resulting stress instead of using it to fuel growth. This is known as the “growth-stress response trade-off.”Now, a group of scientists has discovered a previously unknown pathway that regulates whether a plant…

A hormone believed to be released by muscles during exercise has been found to reduce levels of a toxic protein associated with Parkinson’s disease. The promising animal studies indicate future therapies could be developed based on the way this hormone improves brain health.In 2012 a team of researchers from Harvard Medical School published a landmark study reporting the discovery of a new hormone released by muscles during exercise. The researchers named the hormone irisin.For several years the scientific community…

New research with mice—and a small human trial—raises the prospect of treatments that could improve learning difficulties in people with Down syndrome. Though still preliminary, the work may represent a step toward a goal that has eluded scientists for decades. Down syndrome is the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability, affecting about one in 600 babies. It occurs when a person is born with an extra copy of chromosome 21, ultimately leading to distinctive…

One in 800 children are born with Down syndrome, the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability. The vast majority of cases are caused by having three copies of chromosome 21 instead of two. People with Down syndrome also have reduced fertility, and their sense of smell is often impaired or lost. No treatments have been found so far for the neurological symptoms. In a study published on September 1 in Science, neuroscientist Vincent Prevot of the University of Lille in France and a team of European researchers…

Using oxytocin, the “love hormone,” is unlikely to be a magic treatment for repairing marriages.New study finds that oxytocin supplements are unlikely to mend your marriage.According to a University of Essex study, using the “love hormone” is unlikely to be a magic treatment for repairing marriages. The research, conducted in partnership with Cardiff University, found that therapy improves men’s ability to read emotions better than oxytocin dosage, which is naturally produced and plays a key function in regulating…

Scientists probing the mysterious machinations of the brain during sleep have made a fascinating discovery around how its chemistry changes throughout the night. The research centers on the levels of a stress hormone called noradrenaline, which fluctuates wildly and awakens our brain without us even realizing it and may have implications for the way we retain memories. “You may think that sleep is a constant state that you are in, and then you wake up. But there is a lot more to sleep than meets the eye," explains…

Microscopic image of prostate cancer that has spread to a patient’s lymph node. Credit: Netherlands Cancer InstituteTherapy sensitivity in prostate cancer halted by protein regulating circadian rhythm.Hormone treatment is successful at controlling metastatic prostate cancer, but the tumor cells eventually develop resistance to it. An unexpected potential solution has now emerged in medicines that are not designed to fight cancer, but rather to target proteins that regulate a cell’s circadian rhythm.An international team…

Biochemist and author of the Glucose Revolution Jessie Inchauspé says tweaking your diet can change your life.Among her recommendations in the mainstream media and on Instagram, the founder of the "Glucose Goddess movement" says eating your food in a particular order is the key.  By eating salads first, before proteins, and finishing the meal with starchy carbohydrates, she says blood glucose spikes will be flattened, which is better for you.Scientifically speaking, does this make sense? It turns out, yes, partially.What…