A hormone known as androgen, which affects masculine traits like aggression and strength, can affect the development of a baby's finger length in the womb.
There is a belief that men who are really into their cars (be it slick, phallic sportsters or knobby-tired, pick 'em up trucks) have something to compensate for. Generally, that shortcoming is said to occur somewhere in the crotch region. And there may be some good reason for it. According to a recent study, men driving sports cars get a boost to their testosterone level.
You know how men are always thinking with their you know whats? And they do stupid things for love like spend money, fight really scary dudes and sometimes steal airplanes? Well, it turns out that the recklessness and derring-do may not originate from the nether regions after all. A study conducted jointly by the University of Chicago and Northwestern shows similar behavior between women with high testosterone and men: average men, and women with high testosterone were equally as likely to make risky choices with money. This could explain a number of things.
This is what we've known from the get-go: that the pill is good for people who want to avoid babies and menstrual cramps. This is what we've learned in the years since: that the pill is not so good for people who are scared of developing blood clots and dying of a stroke. But this is what you might be surprised to hear: that the pill can play a role in everything from how we lose our hair to what we choose to eat. Below, a list of eight facts you might never have come across about the pill, courtesy of LiveScience and our own YourTango archives.
Sometimes a dramatic gesture can go a long way. A little bit of good crazy can relight the fire and get those hormones back into high gear. A touch of rough-housing is a nice way to remind your partner that you are a passionate, flesh-and-blood, sexy human. Em & Lo have a few top-notch suggestions. Just be sure to think of good safe words.
Oxytocin is quite a busy hormone. When released in the brain, it facilitates sex, orgasm, birth and breastfeeding, as well as feelings of bonding, connection and trust. In her forthcoming book The Chemistry of Connecton: How the Oxytocin Response Can Help You Find Trust, Intimacy and Love, author and journalist Susan Kuchinskas describes the important role oxytocin plays in our love lives and how we can train our brain to better respond to love. In other words, we weren't born knowing how to love—we learn it.
A group of scientists from the University of Texas think they've pinpointed a hormone that gifts women with an hourglass shape, an aura of attractiveness, and an intense desire to cheat on their boyfriends or husbands. Researchers think a hormone called oestradoil, dubbed the Marilyn Monroe hormone, is to blame for certain behaviors and physical attributes like a symmetrical face, large breasts, low waist to hip ratio, and a pattern of serial monogamy with infidelity.
What if you could fall in love at will—and make him love you back? We've heard the "love is a drug" theory before, but researcher Larry Young believes love can be explained by a specific pattern of events in the brain—so specific, in fact, that scientists may be able to replicate it. It starts with the chemical oxytocin, a hormone that helps mothers bond with their new babies—Young thinks that this neurotransmitter and other chemicals are responsible for romantic love, and that scientists will one day discover how it all works.
I have come to pump you up! Will older women finally be able to take a testosterone-laden sex patch, the female equivalent of Viagra? Only in Europe, as the sex patch Intrinsa may not be available in the U.S. for some time, reports the Wall Street Journal. Procter & Gamble has sought approval for the female sex patch since 1999, but regulators are concerned that the increased amount of testosterone could up an older woman's cancer risk.
Lots of attention is paid to male sexual function, and lots of money is paid to pharmaceutical companies to fix it: a multi-billion dollar industry was created to make sure men of any age can get it up and get it on. Without a visible dysfunction, many women suffer through low libido problems and uncomfortable sex assuming nothing can be done. But there's no need to suffer. A number of things—from your diet to your birth control pills—could be dampening your sex drive, and the good news is, it may be easily fixed.
Expectant mothers have enough to worry about before giving birth: prenatal vitamins, home vs. hospital delivery, whether to become a stay-at-home mom or go back to work. Teen mothers have their own set of additional concerns, and now, it seems, so do mothers giving birth via Caesarean section. Via Jezebel: a recent Yale University study found that mothers who gave birth naturally have higher levels of brain activity in areas that signal motivation and emotion than those who underwent a C-section.
