The study, led by Pauline Maki, professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Illinois, is the largest conducted on the effects of hormone therapy and involved 180 women aged 45 to 55 years who had their last period of one to three years earlier.

These women were given, randomized, placebo or hormone therapy consisting of a daily dose of estrogen and progesterone for four months.

Also made in these studies of memory, attention, cognitive function, emotional status, sexuality and sleep.

“If women want relief from hot flashes and night perspiration, which is the primary reason why women seek treatment during menopause, and if you want to improve their sexual interest and attention, then that combination may be the formula for them” said Maki.

The study did not identify significant changes in cognitive function that were different between women receiving hormone and those receiving placebo.

But women taking hormones reported an 32 percent increase in sexual thoughts and a 44 percent increase in sexual interest compared with women taking placebo.

The study also showed that women with vasomotor symptoms such as hot flashes and night perspiration, showed a reduction in symptoms and improved quality of life during therapy, which did not happen with those receiving placebo

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20 percent of primary brain cancer is glioblastoma multiforme, a type of tumor survives only 5 percent of patients five years after diagnosis.

Scientists wanted to use the immune system to destroy brain cancer cells had to face two challenges: to recruit defensive cells that recognize the tumor antigen, called dendritic cells from bone marrow and help them to recognize tumor cells.

Now a team of researchers from Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, reports the journal Public Library of Science Medicine, has successfully achieved both objectives through a combination of genetic and chemical therapy.

The scientists were able to activate dendritic cells and stimulate a strong antitumor immune system, which resulted in a regression of cancer, increased survival of animals and the induction of immunological memory against cancer.

Speaking to EFE, the head of research, Argentina María G. Castro explained that the first step in the complex process involved injecting two therapeutic virus within the tumor mass, resulting in a double reply of immune system activation.

One of the virus, which causes cancer manufactures a protein type cytokine, attracted dendritic cells that migrated through the bloodstream from the bone marrow.

The other virus caused the expression of a “suicide gene” which, in combination with a substance called ganciclovir, kills cells that are actively dividing, in this case cancer.

“The most novel finding of our study is that the tumor, dying due to a combination of the gene with ganciclovir, releases a molecule (called HMGB1) whose function is to bind to dendritic cells and activate them so that they can be effective in mediating the immune response against cancer, “said Castro.

HMGB1 is an ancestral protein responsible for the regulation of gene expression, but now also known that mediates the immune response against brain tumors, ie, which activates T lymphocytes

“Our results show that for an effective response against the tumor is necessary to combine immunotherapy with other therapies that kill cancer such as radiotherapy or chemotherapy,” said the scientist.

Apart from the identification and elimination of cancer, this treatment also induced immunological memory against the tumor, the mice were able to eliminate one second glioma implanted in his brain two months later.

According to Castro, this treatment worked well in preclinical models of tumors that metastasize to the brain, such as melanoma.

The researcher said that this year will launch clinical trials to treat glioblastoma and already preclinical trials are underway to demonstrate the efficacy of therapy in metastatic models of brain cancer, including lung, breast, colon and pancreas .

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The review of 17 studies suggested that the risk was also significantly higher during the first year of treatment.

Blood clots in the arteries are a common cause of heart attack and stroke (CVA), while those staying in the veins can cause death if taken into the lungs.

“(…) This meta-analysis showed that current use of oral estrogen increases two to three times the risk of (blood clots),” wrote Pierre-Yves Scarabin and Marianne Canonico of the Paul Brousse Hospital in France .

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) relieves severe symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes and was popular until 2002, when a study suggested it could increase the risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer and cause stroke and other serious conditions.

The results of that investigation led to millions of women abandon the drug, which hit hard the actions of the manufacturers, including Wyeth.

However, other experts believe that this study is flawed and this week issued a statement saying that his review of dozens of studies found that HRT is safe for women with early menopause and does not increase the risk of heart disease in patients 50 to 59 years.

Previous tests had also been linked to drugs with the formation of blood clots, but the French review is the first systematic meta-analysis assesses how big the risk really. A meta-analysis is the review of several studies published on a topic.

“Although this relative risk is higher in hormone users when compared with nonusers, the absolute risk is actually very small as blood clots do not occur in this age group in healthy women without treatment “said David Sturdee, president of the International Menopause Society.

“This slightly increased risk of (forming) blood clots should not discourage women to use HRT if needed,” added Sturdee.

The analysis of eight observational studies and nine randomized controlled trials showed that hormone replacement therapy administered via a patch did not increase the risk of blood clots.

The reason for the difference between patches and pills would be the different way that estrogen is absorbed, they added. The team said further studies are needed to confirm the results.

When taken orally, estrogen enters through the digestive system and is processed by the liver. This would prevent the balance between clotting factors and blood thinners, the researchers concluded.

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It is estimated that 25% of adults suffer the embarrassment that causes bad breath and the percentage would reach 50% among older adults. In a study that lasted 28 days and was conducted on 14 adults with halitosis, a team led by Peter Moses, a student at the School of Dentistry, State University of New York at Buffalo, found that brushing twice a day with fluoride containing triclosan and clean the surface of the tongue solve the problem.

Triclosan is an antibacterial drug used to treat acne, hand soaps, detergents and deodorants. “Most toothpastes do not contain triclosan,” said Dr. Joseph J. Zambon, who participated in the study. Triclosan is present in the Colgate Total toothpaste, which makes Colgate-Palmolive Co., which funded the study.

At the beginning and end of the study, researchers measured levels of air in the mouth with the odor-causing bacteria and analyzed tongue scrapings samples in search of 20 species of bacteria that cause bad breath. According to the authors, brushing teeth twice a day with toothpaste containing triclosan and scraping the tongue with a cleaner reduced levels of bacteria that cause bad breath of about 400 parts per billion at baseline to about 100 parts to 28 days.

“All participants solved the halitosis after using triclosan toothpaste and a tongue cleaner,” Moses said in a statement from the university. “The fear of halitosis, known halitofobia, sometimes is so great that up to 25% of people who say they do not have bad breath,” said the expert, adding: “The halitofobia is related to obsessive-compulsive disorder and even provoked suicides, so that effective therapies are needed for this problem. “

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Therapy, consisting of a single shot, works like a vaccine, say scientists at the University of Newcastle, who now want to do a pilot study with volunteers.

The treatment involves removing the patient’s body cells, which are manipulated and then re-injected into the affected joint, today reported the newspaper The Daily Telegraph. “

Unlike osteoarthritis, bone due to wear, rheumatoid arthritis is caused by the malfunction of the immune system, which causes joints to swell and it is difficult to cure.

According to Professor Alan Silman, director of the Campaign Arthritis Research, which funds research, “this is a very important potential cure.”

“It is possible that one shot off the abnormal immune response of the immune system. If it works, could reverse the course of the disease,” says Silman.

In a first phase, the Newcastle team tested the vaccine in eight volunteers at the Freeman hospital, and if the pilot experiment is successful, it will do other tests with larger numbers of people.

The vaccine works by reprogramming the body’s immune cells.

Using steroids, certain chemicals and vitamin D, the British team has devised how to manipulate the patient’s leukocytes so that inhibit rather than activate, the immune system.

Doctors believe that cells get so acting brake system and prevent it from attacking the joints.

Although a similar technique has been used in cancer research, is the first time that has adapted to the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

The research team will try to determine if the vaccine is effective only in the joints that are injected directly or whether the new cells spread throughout the body.

It is anyway a difficult and requires therapy to manipulate the cells in the laboratory, so that could be costly.

According to the director of the Campaign Arthritis Research, a single injection can cost around 32,000 euros

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