BACKGROUND Female athletes suffer a greater incidence of anterior cruciate ligament tears compared with male athletes when participating in common sports; however, very little is known about the factors that explain this disparity. STUDY DESIGN Case-control study; Level of evidence, 3. METHODS Female recreational alpine skiers with an anterior cruciate ligament rupture and age-matched contr...

This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of dysmenorrhea in a prospective approach. Menstruation-related diary data were obtained from 2640 female college students in North Sichuan Medical College; dysmenorrhea and related factors were analyzed. Dysmenorrhea occurred in 56.4% of students; 6.5% of dysmenorrheal students suffered from “hard to bear” (unbearable) menstrual pain, and 6.5% had...

Craving is considered a key characteristic of diverse pathologies, but evidence suggests it may be a culture-bound construct. Almost 50% of American women crave chocolate specifically around the onset of menstruation. Research does not support popular accounts implicating physiological factors in menstrual chocolate craving etiology. We tested the novel hypothesis that greater menstrual craving...

Despite widespread belief that moods are affected by the menstrual cycle, researchers on emotion and reward have not paid much attention to the menstrual cycle until recently. However, recent research has revealed different reactions to emotional stimuli and to rewarding stimuli across the different phases of the menstrual cycle. The current paper reviews the emerging literature on how ovarian ...

Background: Endometriosis as one of the most common health problems of women during their reproductive age, affects 2.5-3.3% of women. Endometriosis may be asymptomatic or associated with dysmenorrheal symptoms, dyspareunia, pelvic pain, abnormal uterine bleeding and infertility. The objective of present study was to determine the risk factors related to endometriosis among Iranian infertile wo...

Genetically informative longitudinal data about menstrual disorders allow us to address the extent to which the same genetic risk mechanisms are operating throughout the reproductive life cycle. We investigate the relative contributions of genes and environment to individual differences in menstrual symptomatology reported at two waves, 8 years apart, of a longitudinal Australian twin study. Tw...

BACKGROUND The phase of the menstrual cycle is thought to influence the course of asthma in women. One recent study reported a large increase in exacerbations during the perimenstrual phase, while another found a preovulatory increase. A study was undertaken to determine the relation between phase of the menstrual cycle and acute asthma in patients presenting to the emergency department (ED). ...

BACKGROUND Decreased levels of circulating bone marrow-derived progenitor cells have been associated with risk factors and cardiovascular diseases. Smoking is the most important modifiable risk factor for atherosclerosis in young women. The aim of this pilot study was to assess in healthy premenopausal women without other risk factors for cardiovascular disease the influence of nicotine abuse o...

INTRODUCTION Circulating strains of Staphylococcus aureus (SA) have changed in the last 30 years including the emergence of community-associated methicillin-resistant SA (MRSA). A report suggested staphylococcal toxic shock syndrome (TSS) was increasing over 2000-2003. The last population-based assessment of TSS was 1986. METHODS Population-based active surveillance for TSS meeting the CDC de...

The aim of the present study was to assess predictive factors for occurrence of idiopathic menorrhagia (IM), a disease characterized by abnormal endometrial blood vessel morphology. It was hypothesized that IM exhibits familial clustering (suggesting inheritance) and is associated with other vascular abnormalities, primarily cutaneous hemangiomas. Women with IM (n=152) and healthy, regularly me...