Medical Notes: Week of June 10, 2018

Polycystic ovary syndrome affects up to 1 in 5 women yet the cause has been a mystery. Now researchers think they may have found it and it may all start before a woman is even born. A study on mice in the journal Nature Medicine finds that when female fetuses are exposed to too much of what’s called anti-mullerian hormone in the womb it sets up a cascade of events that occur after puberty. Researchers say the hormone triggers brain cells to overproduce testosterone, a hallmark of polycystic ovary syndrome. Researchers were able to reverse PCOS with an IVF hormone regulating drug.

Yet another study carries a strong implication that playing tackle football at a young age is especially dangerous for brain health. The study in the Annals of Neurology finds that people who began tackle football before age 12 experience cognitive, behavior, and mood symptoms an average of 13 years earlier than those who started playing at age 12 or later.  Cognitive and mood problems came about 2 and a half years sooner for every year under age 12 a person started to play.

And finally… scientists may have finally come up with an antidote for hangovers. Researchers at UCLA say they’ve developed a combination of 3 enzymes normally found in the liver that cut the blood alcohol level of inebriated mice by 45 percent in four hours compared to mice that didn’t receive the enzymes. Scientists say the enzymes could also help prevent alcohol poisoning. Human tests could be as little as a year away.