Background and objectives: In the evolutionary past, women spent most of their reproductive lives either pregnant or in lactational amenorrhea, and rarely menstruated. The current pattern of frequent menses, and the associated increase in endogenous hormonal exposure, has been implicated in the current breast cancer epidemic. It is not known, however, whether oral contraceptives further increas...

Cognitive abilities, such as verbal fluency and mental rotation, are most sensitive to changes in sex steroids but poorly studied in the context of hormonal contraceptive usage. Therefore, we investigated the performance of mental rotation and verbal fluency in young (21.5±1.8 years) healthy oral contraceptive (OC) users (23 women) and non-users (20 women) during the follicular, ovulatory and l...

BACKGROUND Although research suggests that socio-sexual behavior changes in conjunction with the menstrual cycle, several potential factors are rarely taken into consideration. We investigated the role of changing hormone concentrations on self-reported physical discomfort, sleep, exercise and socio-sexual interest in young, healthy women. METHODS Salivary hormones (dehydroepiandrosterone sul...

A study was conducted in Malaysia of 148 women seeking induced abortion from doctors. The influence of socioeconomic, ethnic, religious, and educational factors on the practice of induced abortion in Malaysia was examined along with the relationship of induced abortion to the use of contraceptives. 135 of the women were married; 13 were unmarried. 22.3% of the women did not complete primary ...

BACKGROUND Combined oral contraceptives are a common method of contraception, but they carry a risk of venous and arterial thrombosis. We assessed whether use of drospirenone was associated with an increase in thrombotic risk relative to third-generation combined oral contraceptives. METHODS Using computerized records of the largest health care provider in Israel, we identified all women aged...

We estimated cholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.8) activities in erthrocytes and plasma of 443 men, 188 women not taking oral contraceptives, and 70 women who were taking oral contraceptives. Men in the first six decades of life had higher plasma cholinesterase activity than did women who were not taking oral contraceptives, and these women had higher plasma cholinesterase activity than women taking oral...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate quantitatively articles that compared effects of second and third generation oral contraceptives on risk of venous thrombosis. DESIGN Meta-analysis. STUDIES Cohort and case-control studies assessing risk of venous thromboembolism among women using oral contraceptives before October 1995. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Pooled adjusted odds ratios calculated by a general varian...

 Some cancers depend on naturally occurring sex hormones for their development and growth. Researchers are interested in learning whether the hormones in oral contraceptives affect cancer risk in women (see Question 1).  Some studies have shown an increased risk of breast cancer in women taking oral contraceptives, while other studies have shown no change in risk (see Question 2).  Oral cont...

Fragile X premutations are known to be a risk factor for diminished ovarian function at a relatively young age. We studied endocrine profiles of female fragile X family members (n = 79) at risk of premature ovarian failure (POF). Of these 79 women aged <40 years, 45 had menstrual cycles, and 34 were using oral contraceptives. Of the women with menstrual cycles, the premutation carriers had high...

1. There are conflicting reports regarding the effect of oral contraceptives on serum and erythrocyte folate concentrations and on folate absorption. A detailed study of this problem was therefore undertaken. 2. It was first ascertained that there was no significant variation in serum folate concentrations at different stages in the normal menstrual cycle. 3. No significant difference was found...