Hormones shape our bodies, make us fertile, excite our most basic urges, and as scientists have known for years, they govern the behaviors that separate men from women. But how?

An analysis of hundreds of reviews posted to physician-rating sites on the Internet revealed that patients generally give their doctors favorable reviews in this forum. If they complain, it is generally about the experience of going to the doctor.

A UCSF symposium, “It’s About a Billion Lives,’’ will feature new research on tobacco. A wide range of topics will be presented including discussions about the harmful effects of cigarette smoke exposure, the public health consequences of “electronic’’ cigarettes, and how discount pricing of cigarettes has raised smoking rates among poor people in China.

Sugar should be controlled like alcohol and tobacco to protect public health, according to a team of UCSF researchers, who maintain in a new report that sugar is fueling a global obesity pandemic, contributing to 35 million deaths annually worldwide.