3500 20- to 24-year-old women from Tromsø and Hamar in Norway were offered free hormonal contraception for a year. The result was that the abortion rate in the trial cities was halved. The project came to an end in December 2009, and the results obtained by the SINTEF Technology and Society scientists were quite clear: The abortion rate in the trial cities was halved, and the women involved were very happy to be given free contraception of this sort, according to the project manager, research manager Anita Oren. The project was carried out on behalf of the Directorate of Health…

Is aggression always the best response to a challenge? Testosterone may not necessarily cause aggression but behavior can drive testosterone secretion. In an evaluation for Faculty of 1000, Robert Sapolsky highlights a study published in Nature which assessed how testosterone affects human behavior in a ‘pro-social’ situation - an environment where it is beneficial for a person to help someone else. In an ‘Ultimatum Game’, a ‘proposer’ is given power to decide how a sum of money is divided between him/herself and another player, ‘the decider’…

Novo Nordisk announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Norditropin® FlexPro® (somatropin [rDNA origin] injection), a pre-filled injection pen to be used by children and adults with growth hormone disorders. It will be available in the second quarter. Norditropin® FlexPro® has a user friendly design which makes it easy to learn and use, and an audible click that confirms that the medication has left the pen. Norditropin® FlexPro® requires no reconstitution and no loading of cartridges…

The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) welcomes and applauds the effort of First Lady Michelle Obama, who announced a new campaign to combat childhood obesity today. AACE and the American College of Endocrinology (ACE), have initiated a number of programs and activities that will compliment her efforts. “First Lady Obama’s actions will also help to increase public awareness about the College’s efforts,” AACE President Dr. Jeffrey R. Garber said…

Protalix Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NYSE- Amex: PLX) announced that data from its pivotal Phase III trial of taliglucerase alfa in patients with Gaucher disease will be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Lysosomal Disease Network: WORLD Symposium 2010, February 10-12, 2010 in Miami, Florida. Hanna Rosenbaum, M.D…

PROLOR Biotech, Inc., (OTC Bulletin Board: PBTH) reported positive top-line results from a Phase I study of its longer-acting version of human growth hormone (hGH). The study was designed to measure the potential durability (half-life), overall drug exposure (AUC) and biological efficacy, as well as the safety and tolerability of PROLOR’s longer-acting CTP-modified human growth hormone (hGH-CTP). The Phase I study enrolled 24 healthy adults who were randomized to receive one of three doses of hGH-CTP (4mg, 7mg, or 21mg) or placebo…

The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, shows that hip fractures in grandfathers are linked to low bone density and reduced bone size in their grandsons. “This is the first time this risk factor for low bone mass has been demonstrated across two generations,” says associate professor Mattias Lorentzon, who led the research team at the Sahlgrenska Academy. “This new risk factor may be significant for the diagnosis of low bone mass and suggests possible mechanisms for the inheritance of low bone mass and fracture risk…

If your grandfather has had a hip fracture, you too could be at risk. Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have been able to show, for the first time, a link between hip fractures in elderly men and impaired bone health in their grandsons. The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, shows that hip fractures in grandfathers are linked to low bone density and reduced bone size in their grandsons…

People profoundly deficient in human growth hormone (HGH) due to a genetic mutation appear to live just as long as people who make normal amounts of the hormone, a newly released study shows. The findings suggest that HGH may not be the “fountain of youth” that some scientists have suggested. “Without HGH, these people still live long, healthy lives, and our results don’t seem to support the notion that lack of HGH slows or accelerates the aging process,” says Roberto Salvatori, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Endocrinology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine……..

Scientists have shown that early growth hormone supplementation in rats with growth hormone deficiency can prevent defects in memory developing later in adulthood. The study, published in the Journal of Endocrinology is the first to show that memory defects in adults as a result of growth hormone deficiency arising in childhood can be prevented by growth hormone treatment during adolescence.