BACKGROUND Data from the Carolina Breast Cancer Study, a population-based, case-control study of breast cancer in African-American and white women residents of North Carolina, were evaluated to determine whether specific aspects of lactation are associated with a reduction in the risk of breast cancer. METHODS Analyses included 751 parous cases and 742 parous controls frequency-matched on age...

CONTEXT Lactation is associated with improved glucose and insulin homeostasis, independent of weight change. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the association between lactation history and incidence of type 2 diabetes. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Prospective observational cohort study of 83,585 parous women in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and retrospective observational cohort study of 73,418 p...

The present investigation examined, by study of daily vaginal smears, whether the interaction of virgin female rats with young affected the oestrous cycle. Virgins behaving non-maternally or maternally were continuously exposed to young for extended periods. (1) All non-maternal virgins continued to cycle while 87% of maternal virgins ceased to cycle when exposed to young, and entered a series ...

Endocrine and reproductive influences significantly affect the lifetime risk of breast cancer. Nulliparity is one of the most firmly established risk factors for breast cancer, whereas early full-term pregnancy and parity confer a significant protection. The breast attains its maximum development during pregnancy and lactation. After menopause the breast regresses in both nulliparous and parous...

We measured levels of cholesterol and its oxidation products, 5,6 alpha- and beta-epoxides and their common hydrolysis product cholestane triol, in breast fluids of women without breast disease, compared these levels to serum cholesterol levels, and explored associations of these breast fluid measurements with known breast cancer risk factors and other characteristics. Subjects were 105 women w...

OBJECTIVE To identify potential risk factors for cesarean delivery following labor induction in multiparous women at term. METHODS We conducted a retrospective case-control study. Cases were parous women in whom the induction of labor had resulted in a cesarean delivery. For each case, we used the data of two successful inductions as controls. Successful induction was defined as a vaginal del...

The role of parity before and after N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) treatment in protection against mammary carcinogenesis was investigated. The effect of lactation on reduction in the incidence of mammary carcinoma was also examined. Parous rats were compared with respective age-matched virgins (AMVs). Pregnancy and lactation prior to MNU exposure significantly reduced both the incidence of mamma...

BACKGROUND Precipitous labor is defined as expulsion of the fetus within less than 3 hours of commencement of regular contractions. We retrospectively examined our cases of precipitous labor to identify the clinical significance and perinatal outcomes following precipitous labor in singleton vertex deliveries. METHODS A retrospective population-based study was conducted comparing women with s...

One hypothesis for the well known gender difference in bladder cancer risk is that males and females metabolize carcinogens differently. The caffeine breath test (CBT) was performed on a group of healthy men and women to determine whether there was a gender difference in P4501A2 activity. Results consistent with previous data suggest an elevation of CBT in men were observed, although this incre...

BACKGROUND Sand fly saliva helps parasite establishment and induce immune responses in vertebrate hosts. In the current study, we investigated the modulation of Phlebotomus papatasi salivary gland antigen expression by seasonal and biological factors. METHODS Sand flies were grouped according to physiological stages such as unfed, fed, semi-gravid, gravid, parous, nulliparous, infected or non...