Minerva

Women with polycystic ovarian syndrome can find it difficult to conceive. Some are given clomiphene to induce ovulation, but it doesn't always work. Given that insulin resistance may play a key role in the syndrome, some people think that metformin (a drug that reduces insulin resistance) may help as a pretreatment. But in a randomised placebo controlled double blind crossover study of 26 women, metformin produced no difference in ovulation rates (British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 2002;53:469-73).

It's been a while since leukotriene modifiers such as montelukast arrived on the asthma scene. They haven't really caught on in Britain. A multicentre randomised double blind double dummy trial comparing long term inhaled fluticasone with oral montelukast in the United States now finds that the inhaled steroids are more effective as a first line maintenance treatment for chronic asthma (Mayo Clinic Proceedings 2002;77:437-45).

Minerva has long believed that stress can trigger skin complaints, although some dermatologists disagree. A direct link between oily skin and acne and the stress hormone corticotropin releasing hormone is now established. Corticotropin releasing hormone apparently sits in—and acts on—the sebaceous glands responsible for producing oily skin. Scientists detected …