sex hormones tagged posts

Researchers have uncovered how hormones profoundly affect our immune systems, explaining why men and women are affected by diseases differently.

Scientists from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Imperial College London have shown for the first time which aspects of our immune systems are regulated by sex hormones, and the impacts this has on disease risk and health outcomes in males and females.

It is well established that diseases can affect men and women differently, due to subtle differences in our immune systems. For example, the immune condition systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is nine-times more likely to affect women, or with COVID-19, males are known to have a greater risk of acute first-time infections, while females have a greater risk of long-COVID.

But it ...

Exposure to female odours and pheromones causes weight loss and extend the lifespans of mice, which may have implications for humans, University of Otago researchers have found.

Lead researcher Dr Michael Garratt, of the Department of Anatomy, says while it was already known that sensory cues in humans and animals influence the release of sex hormones, this study shows that these cues could have more wide-spread physiological effects on metabolism and ageing.

“Our studies show that female odours slow the sexual development of female mice, but consequently extends their lifespan. And we also show that the smell of females can increase male mouse energy expenditure, which subsequently influences their body weight and body fat levels,” he says.

Newborn mice were exposed to odour...