Womens' health

Extended-cycle combined hormonal contraception has become a common practice among women seeking effective contraception and menstrual regulation. Extended cycle regimens have the benefit of decreasing scheduled bleeding as compared to traditional combined oral contraceptive (COC) regimens containing 21 days of hormones followed by a 7-day hormone-free interval (HFI) by reducing...

Tryptophan (Trp) is present in the serum, partly bound to albumine and in the free form. The unbound portion of circulating tryptophan has the property of crossing the hematoencephalic barrier and being converted within the brain into serotonin (5-HT) through the enzymatic processes of hydroxylation and decarboxylation. The serotoninergic system...

Among women, the most prevalent type of cancer is breast cancer, affecting 1 out of every 8 women in the United States; in Puerto Rico, 70 out of every 100,000 will develop some type of breast cancer. Therefore, a better understand of the potential risk factors for breast cancer...

Ventricular tachycardia although not common, can occasionally complicate pregnancy. Its presence may indicate an underlying cardiac structural abnormality, or undiagnosed congenital arrhythmic disease. However, some pregnant patients with ventricular tachycardia have structurally normal hearts. Two cases of ventricular tachycardia in pregnant patients with structurally normal hearts are presented and an...

Capecitabine is an oral 5-fluorouracil pro-drug with activity in metastatic breast cancer. As a single agent, response rates of 30%–30% and 15%–30% have been reported in first-line and more heavily pretreated populations, respectively. Capecitabine in combination with chemotherapy and biologic agents has resulted in significant improvement in the clinical...

Background: There is discordance among studies assessing the impact of race on outcome of patients with Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC). We assessed survival outcomes for African American (AA) versus Caucasian (CA) women with TNBC treated at an urban cancer center in Memphis, TN with a predominant AA patient...

Trastuzumab is a therapeutic humanised monoclonal antibody targeting the Her2 receptor tyrosine kinase. Her2 is over-expressed, due to gene amplification, in approximately 30% of breast cancers and confers a worse prognosis. Trastuzumab has been used clinically for over a decade and is now used routinely in the treatment of Her2-positive...

Postmenopausal osteoporosis is a disease associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Oral bisphosphonates administered once weekly are associated with adverse events from the upper gastrointestinal system, leading to poor adherence. Zoledronic acid is a nitrogen containing third-generation bisphosphonate approved for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. It is a potent antiresorptive...

Despite the cytoreductive efforts, and the high responsiveness to standard carboplatin/pacllitaxel front-line treatment, ovarian cancer (OvCa) remains the most lethal gynaecological malignancy with a 5-yr overall survival of only 25%–30% in advanced stage disease. Among the pharmaceutical options available for treatment of OvCa, much attention has been dedicated to pegylated...

Breast cancer is a significant problem worldwide. Five years of Tamoxifen has been the established endocrine adjuvant therapy for both pre- and post-menopausal women for several decades, until the more recent introduction of AI’s for use in post-menopausal ER-positive EBC. There are three third generation AI’s currently available commercially these...

Introduction: Studies have shown that a diet high in fruit and vegetable intake, as well as a routine including daily exercise or physical activity, can independently affect relapse rates and survivorship in breast cancer patients. Fruits and vegetables contain powerful anti-oxidant molecules, capable of preventing tumor formation and proliferation. Exercise...

Each GP sees approximately two infertile couples each year. Despite the relative lack of opportunity to rehearse the skills necessary to manage infertile couples a basic understanding will assist in the GPs advocacy role. Broadly the causes can be classified as male factors, ovulatory disorders, tubal disorders or unexplained infertility....

Hysterectomies were unknown in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology until the 19th century. In the 20th century they were perhaps too frequently performed whereas the 21st century has witnessed a steep decline in hysterectomy numbers. It is therefore an opportune time to review the indications for hysterectomies, hysterectomy techniques...

Fulvestrant (Faslodex®) is an estrogen receptor antagonist with no agonist effects that competitively binds to the estrogen receptor with greater affinity than tamoxifen. A systematic review was performed to understand the pharmacology and to examine the evidence supporting the clinical use of fulvestrant in the first-line and second-line settings in...

Curcumin is a compound with anti-tumor effects in a tolerable dose. A recent paper by Rowe et al described that curcumin induced DNA damage in triple negative breast cancer cells and regulated BRCA1 protein expression and modification. Related research and potential use of curcumin will be discussed in this article....

Studies investigating possible associations between cytochrome P4501B1 (CYP1B1) polymorphisms and breast cancer risk have been inconsistent. We set out to ascertain whether there might be an association between polymorphisms in exon 2 (codon 119, G→T) and exon 3 (codon 432, G→C) of CYP1B1 and breast cancer in a Chinese Han...

Introductory Editorial by Dr Karna Dev Bardhan

The causes of chronic vulvar pain are many and when not accompanied by obvious physical signs they are difficult to unravel. Many common vulvar dermatoses can manifest without obvious erythema or mucocutaneous lesions, as can some less common disorders of both infectious and allergic origin. In addition localized and generalized...

The vagina is a dynamic and finely tuned ecosystem in which homeostasis depends on mutually beneficial interactions between a human female and her resident microorganisms, an ecosystem that can be thrown off balance by a wide variety of both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Although a functional equilibrium provides stability to...

Recent evidence suggests reduced levels of serotonin, which may be associated with premenstrual symptoms, among populations in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. In this cross-sectional study, we examined the association between neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) and premenstrual symptoms. Participants were 640 female Japanese dietetic students aged 18–22 years, residing in 210 municipalities...

Recent evidence suggests that voluntary rhythmic movements such as chewing may increase blood serotonin and subsequently brain serotonin, which in turn acts to alleviate premenstrual symptoms. In this observational cross-sectional study, we tested the hypothesis that hardness (difficulty of chewing) of the habitual diet (i.e. dietary hardness) is associated with...

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in pregnancy has traditionally been considered to be a rare event, but the combination of normal physiological changes of pregnancy and more prevalent cardiovascular risk factors are increasing its incidence in this population. The present report describes a 39 year-old woman that is seven weeks pregnant...

Objective: To explore the relationship between coping mechanisms and suicidal ideations among women who experience symptoms of postpartum depression. Design: This exploratory descriptive study used secondary data from a study of women who experienced symptoms of postpartum depression. Participants: Convenience and purposive sampling were used to obtain the community sample of...

A variety of post-translational protein modifications (PTMs) are known to be altered as a result of cancer development. Thus, these PTMs are potentially useful biomarkers for breast cancer. Mass spectrometry, antibody microarrays and immunohistochemistry techniques have shown promise for identifying changes in PTMs. In this review, we summarize the current...

Objective: To assess the performance of a test for breast cancer utilizing synchrotron x-ray diffraction analysis of scalp hair from women undergoing diagnostic radiology assessment. Design and Setting: A double-blinded clinical trial of women who attended diagnostic radiology clinics in Australia. Patients: 1796 women referred for diagnostic radiology, with no previous history...

Earlier studies have suggested an association between breast cancer aggressiveness and the presence of viral sequences resembling mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV). This study was to determine if inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) in the United States had a higher proportion of cases with these viral sequences than non-IBC patients and...

Purpose: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent regulator of angiogenesis and thereby involved in the development and progression of solid tumors. A 936C> T polymorphism in the VEGF gene has been associated with reduced VEGF plasma levels. Purpose of the present study was to analyze the potential association...