Health Highlights: March 15, 2007

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Hormone Shrinks Lung Tumors

A hormone called angiotensin-(1-7) -- which regulates blood pressure -- shrinks lung tumors in mice, says a U.S. study in the journalCancer Research.

Scientists at Wake Forest University School of Medicine injected mice with human cancer cells and found that those treated with angiotensin-(1-7) had their tumors shrink by about 30 percent during the 28-day experiment. In mice that received a saline solution, tumors more than doubled in size,Agence France Pressereported.

It's believed that the hormone reduces levels of an enzyme called COX-2, which is found at elevated levels in 70 percent to 90 percent of malignant lung tumors, the researchers said. COX-2 stimulates cell growth.

A small trial to test angiotensin-(1-7) in people with lung cancer is scheduled to begin next month at the university's Comprehensive Cancer Center,AFPreported.

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Poor Sex Lives Linked to Decline in Japan's Birth Rate

Stress from busy working lives may be one reason why many people in Japan have dismal sex lives, which is causing the country's birth rate to plunge, says a survey released this week by the Japan Family Planning Association.

The November 2006 survey of 636 men and 773 women, ages 16 to 49, found that 39.7 percent had not had sex for more than a month. That's an increase of five percentage points from a similar survey done two years ago, theAssociated Pressreported.

Among married couples, 34.6 percent said they hadn't had sex in more than a month.

The survey findings come at a time when there's great worry over Japan's birthrate, which hit a record low in 2005 of 1.26 births in an average woman's lifetime, theAPreported.