Estrogen May Help Schizophrenia in Women

Adding estrogen to routine medication helped reduce the number of psychotic symptoms in women with schizophrenia, researchers said on Monday.

Women given an estrogen patch in addition to their other drugs had fewer delusions and hallucinations than those who got a placebo, they said.

Kulkarni and colleagues wanted to see if estrogen offered a kind of protective effect in women vulnerable to the disease.

They studied the effects of estradiol, a form of estrogen, in 102 women of childbearing age with schizophrenia.

They also experienced a decline in so-called positive symptoms of the disease, which include things like distorted thinking. But there was no change in negative symptoms, such as social or emotional withdrawal.

The researchers said negative symptoms tend to be more difficult to treat, and a longer study would be needed to show a benefit there.

If given over short periods, they said estrogen therapy may be useful in women with schizophrenia after childbirth or menopause, when women with the disease are more prone to relapse. It may also be useful during low-estrogen phases of a woman's menstrual cycle, they said.

Delta Airlines Makes Wi-Fi Available on Flights

Delta Air Lines said Tuesday that it would offer broadband wireless Internet access on its entire domestic mainline fleet by next summer. Continental Airlines had previously announced plans to offer similar service across a majority of its mainline fleet.

Several other airlines either offer or plan to offer a similar service, though on a much more limited number of flights than Delta and Continental.

Delta, which is based in Atlanta, said it would sell Wi-Fi service to customers traveling throughout the continental United States. The carrier is working with Aircell, an airborne communications provider, to install the network on Delta’s domestic fleet of more than 330 aircraft.

American Airlines, a unit of the AMR Corporation, will offer the same Wi-Fi service as Delta through Aircell later this year on 15 of its 767-200 aircraft, which generally fly transcontinental routes, a spokeswoman, September Wade, said.

JetBlue Airways offers free Wi-Fi service on one aircraft that generally flies transcontinental routes, a spokesman, Sebastian White, said. The US Airways Group plans to offer Wi-Fi service on a trial basis on one Airbus aircraft in the fall, a spokeswoman, Michelle Mohr, said.