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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Endocrine responses after thyrotrophin-releasing hormone stimulation and dexamethasone suppression tests in the major depressive syndrome.

The effects of dexamethasone 1 mg on plasma cortisol levels and of thyrotrophin-releasing hormone (TRH) 200 micrograms on thyrotrophin (TSH), growth hormone and prolactin levels in 107 patients with a major depressive disorder (MDD) were compared with those in 87 healthy subjects. Individual hormonal responses and combinations of hormonal responses after administration of dexamethasone and TRH were evaluated as diagnostic aids for MDD by calculating sensitivity, specificity and efficiency for single and multiple hormonal abnormalities. In patients suffering from MDD, 65% of men, 74% of reproductive women and 71% of menopausal or hysterectomized (H/M) women had abnormal responses (sensitivity) to a dexamethasone suppression test (DST). When the DST and TSH responses to TRH were combined, 85% of men, 87% of reproductive women and 84% of H/M women had abnormal results. If the efficiency of the different combinations of hormone responses is calculated, a totally different picture emerges.

Adult

The multiple dimensions of sexual behavior as risk factor for sexually transmitted disease: the sexually experienced are not necessarily sexually active.

Sexual behavior is a crucial risk factor for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), but no national data exist to define a true population at risk. Instead, limited information describes sexual behavior in specific population groups (adolescents, women in their twenties) only in terms of a single dimension: sexual experience. To address the multiple dimensions of sexual behavior, we analyzed data collected from a nationally representative sample of reproductive age women in the 1982 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). We found 86% of women aged 15-44 to be sexually experienced. Teenagers are the least experienced (45% and 56% of whites and others, respectively) and the least sexually active of all reproductive women. While sexual experience increases with age, sexual activity shows a curvilinear age pattern: it increases up to age 35 and decreases slightly from age 35 to 44. Teenagers report the least consistent sexual activity (less than 25%) and the highest level of abstention (38% and 31% for whites and others, respectively) following sexual experience. These findings indicate sexual experience as a measure of sexual behavior should be further refined to provide a more accurate estimate of the population at risk for STD.

Adolescent

Hormonal profiles after the menopause.

The endocrinological changes of the climacteric have been defined by studying the concentrations of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinising hormone (LH), androstenedione, testosterone, oestrone, and oestradiol in 60 normal postmenopausal women of different menopausal ages. The women were studied in six groups, according to the number of years since their menopause. One year after the menopause androstenedione, oestrone, and oestradiol concentrations were reduced to about 20% of the values recorded during the early proliferative phase of the menstrual cycle. At the same time the mean concentration of FSH had risen by a factor of 13-4 and that of LH by a factor of 3-0. Concentrations of both gonadotrophins reached a peak of 18-4 and 3-4 times the proliferative phase value respectively after two to three years, and then gradually declined in the next three decades to values that were 40-50% of these maximal levels. Testosterone concentrations remained mostly in the normal range for premenopausal women but were depressed to 60% of these levels two to five years after the menopause, and the mean androstenedione levels showed a significant increase in the same group of women. The concentrations of both oestrone and oestradiol remained consistently low for 10 years after the menopause, but oestradiol concentrations inexplicably increased in the last two decades, with levels at the lower end of normal range for reproductive women in six patients.

Age Factors

[Changes in steroid enzyme activities with age in human ovary].

It is well documented that sex hormone secretion decreases as age advances. In this study, 17 alpha-hydroxylase (17hy), 20 alpha(beta)-hydroxy steroid dehydrogenase (20-HSD), C17-20 lyase, 17 beta-hydroxy steroid dehydrogenase (17 beta-HSD) and aromatase activities in ovarian tissues were examined in order to study the changes in steroid metabolism in human ovary with age. Tissues were obtained from women aged 30-81 years who had undergone gynecological laparotomy. Enzyme activities were measured by the conversion of 14C-labeled progesterone, 17 alpha-hydroxy progesterone and androstenedione to amounts of corresponding labeled products. Remarkable reduction of C17-20 lyase and 17hy activities were noticed in the ovaries obtained from the women in the premenopausal stage when the activities were compared with those from reproduct women. However, the activities of aromatase, 17 beta-HSD and 20-HSD were not changed. Further, a decrease of 17hy activities was observed in the ovaries obtained from menopausal women. Aromatase activity was also reduced at this stage while the 17 beta-HSD and 20-HSD remained unchanged. In addition, the formation of 17 alpha, 20 beta-OH-P4 from 17P4 was first demonstrated indicating that activity of 20 beta-HSD in postmenopausal ovary and found to be localized in the microsomal fraction. These result indicated that the changes of ovarian steroid enzyme activities with age were characterized by a striking reduction in C17-20 lyase and 17hy activities while 17 beta-HSD and 20-HSD activities were not impaired. Aromatase activity was found to be decreased in ovaries at menopause.

17-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases

[Female genital tract tuberculosis].

The frequency of female genital tract tuberculosis exhibits a parallelism that of pulmonary tuberculosis in the population. It is generally found in reproductive women, but also occurs in postmenopausal ones. Its frequency has declined since the introduction of specific treatment, but it is discovered incidentally during the course of an investigation for infertility. The most common location is in fallopian tubes. In the Department of Pathology from the Medical School of Cumhuriyet University 11 female genital tract tuberculosis have been described between the years of 1984 and 1990. In this study, age, symptoms, localizations and pathological findings of these cases have been reviewed.

Adolescent

[Comparison of the IFA, ELISA IgG, ELISA IgM, IHA and the direct agglutination tests in Toxoplasma gondii serology].

In this study, toxoplasma antibodies were evaluated by using IFA, ELISA IgG, ELISA IgM, IHA and direct agglutination test in serum samples obtained from reproductive women. The specificity, sensitivity, unit costing and timing of tests compared with IFA test. In this evaluation IFA test are used. ELISA IgG specificity 98%, sensitivity 97.5%; IHA specificity 90%, sensitivity 97.5%; direct agglutination specificity 92%, sensitivity 95% have been found.

Agglutination Tests

Women's reproductive health--challenges for the 1990s.

Health policy makers, program planners and donor agencies have paid little attention to issues surrounding women's reproductive health. This paper will look at reproductive health issues surrounding pregnancy and childbirth, the accessibility and safety of contraception, and reproductive tract infections. The gross social injustice caused by high maternal mortality can no longer be ignored. Nor can we ignore the much larger numbers of women who suffer life-long health impairment resulting directly from the health hazards associated with pregnancy and childbirth. The challenge is to reduce maternal mortality by at least 50% by the year 2000. If these challenges are not faced, the 1990s may very well be remembered as the decade that saw the largest numbers of women dying in childbirth and pregnancy. The 1990s will see the addition of some 300 million couples to the reproductive age group. These couples will need access to good sexual health care, including safe and effective contraception, and prevention of reproductive tract infections and sexually transmitted disease. The biomedical consequences of reproductive tract infections are, among others, fetal wastage, low birth weight, carcinoma of the cervix, infertility and ectopic pregnancy. In addition to these consequences, there are the psychological, social and economic costs of these diseases. Some suggestions for meeting these challenges are put forward. These include building on existing programs and expanding available resources to help women to attain health, dignity, and their basic human rights.

Female

The domestic servant as family planning innovator: an Indian case study.

This paper reports on the relatively low fertility of female domestic servants in India. domestic servant have fewer numbers of ever-born and living children than women working in other occupations and women who are unemployed. This low fertility, which appears to be volitional, may have its roots in the incompatibility between the servant's reproductive and the productive roles, as well as in the changing values generated by continued exposure to a wealthier lifestyle. It is suggested that family planning messages aimed at and elicited by more "elite" classes may have a greater impact on fertility behavior than message from prompters with a socioeconomic background similar to the clients', which tend to concentrate on the harsher day-to-day realities of poverty.

Adolescent

Pregnancy and lactation in relation to breast cancer risk.

In the past, numerous efforts have been made to define risk and protective factors of breast cancer. Among these, pregnancy and lactation have been extensively discussed in connection with breast cancer. Unfortunately, many of the reports on the protective effects of pregnancy and lactation are equivocal; caution needs to be exercised when interpreting the results of a single publication. Development of breast cancer is often preceded by the occurrence of preneoplastic mammary lesions, which may be the result of long-term exposure to estrogens and prolactin. Since endogenous estrogen levels regulate pituitary prolactin secretion to some extent, it has been postulated that a hormonal imbalance exists in early mammary carcinogenesis. Exogenous estrogens directly increase pituitary prolactin secretion. During gestation, greatly increased levels of endogenous sex steroids efficiently stimulate pituitary prolactin secretion; during lactation, the stimulus of suckling is responsible for hyperprolactinemia. However, most studies did not reveal a cause-effect relationship between prolactin levels and enhanced risk of breast cancer. At present, the role of pregnancy and lactation in the development and prognosis of breast cancer is not determined.

Adolescent

Effect of dietery weight loss on sex steroid binding sex steroids, and gonadotropins in obese postmenopausal women.

Measurements of SSBG, E2, T, and gonadotropins were performed in 12 obese postmenopausal women before, during, and after a supplemented fast. Weight loss (mean 18 kg) was associated with an increase in SSBG to levels above those seen in nonobese postmenopausal women, a decrease in serum E2 levels, unchanged T levels, and an increase in both gonadotropins. Thus we conclude that weight change or the circumstances associated with it lead to alterations in circulating levels of SSBG. These observations are consistent with the presence of elevated free T and possibly higher free E2 levels in obese postmenopausal women.

Body Weight