One of the great things about medicine is that experts tend to gather together into groups, like say: The North American Menopause Society. This organization of nurses, nurse midwifes, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, physicians, physician assistants, and psychologists is on a mission. That mission is the best possible management of menopause for women as they age. The new issue of their descriptively titled journal, Menopause, contains their position statement on hormone replacement therapy. When I started medical school every woman who complained of an end to her periods and “hot flashes” got hormone therapy. It’s more complicated now. Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for the ‘hormones’ Category
rBGH
On January - 20 - 2010ADD COMMENTS
Roughly 17% of dairy cows are dosed with something called recombinant bovine growth hormone, or rBGH, sold under the trade name Prosilac. This is done so each cow will produce 7-8 more pounds of milk daily — about a gallon. Clearly this is good for the dairy farmer! But is it good for the cow? What about the human who consumes that milk?
“Huh, Maybe Bisphenol A Isn’t Good For You”
On January - 18 - 20101 COMMENT
That’s a rough summary of what the FDA said on Friday. Maybe you recall what we said about the stuff almost exactly 2 years ago. Back in 2008, the FDA declared it “safe.” Now they aren’t so sure.
The Big Boys Step Up: New Guidelines on Growth Hormone Deficiency
On December - 7 - 2009ADD COMMENTS
Last week the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists released their revised guidelines for treatment of growth hormone deficiency. This revised document greatly updates the organization’s position on the use of Human Growth Hormone (hGH) and provides guidance for uses outside the traditional scope of rare metabolic diseases.
We’ve written about hGH before, and the recognition of hGH deficiency in patients that are outside the realm of strange endocrine tumors is a big step forward. Sadly, these guys aren’t the most compelling or bounciest writers. From time to time we have to cover the very dry scientific literature, this is one of those times. Let’s take a look at what the endocrinologists had to say. Read the rest of this entry »
Don’t Believe the Hype. HCG Still Doesn’t Work.
On November - 4 - 2009ADD COMMENTS
In 1988, 29 year-old classically trained pianist and trombonist William Jonathan Drayton, Jr., cemented his place in musical mythology by recording with his uniquely American group, Public Enemy, the immortal words Don’t Believe The Hype. Drayton who took the stage name Flavor Flav has since become known as hip-hop’s greatest hype man, so he ought to know.
The hype goes on. We’ve written about it here and here and here. The LA times has come out against the hype here.
People just want to believe, though. Something keeps them buying disproven diet solutions. Read the rest of this entry »