This study aimed to assess hemoglobin concentration and its association with oral contraceptive (OC) use, food insecurity (FI) and dietary iron availability (DIA) in adult women of reproductive age (20–44 years). This is a population-based cross-sectional study that analysed 505 women living in favelas and urban communities in a capital city in northeastern Brazil. Hemoglobin concentration was determined using capillary blood samples. FI and DIA were assessed using the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale and the 24-h food recall, respectively. Association analysis was carried out using logistic regression. A directed acyclic graph (DAG) was designed to illustrate the causal paths between hemoglobin concentration and DIA. A significance level of 5 % was adopted. Low hemoglobin concentrations (11·2 g/dl: (1·79)) and a high prevalence of anaemia (64·0 %) were observed; 28·7 % used OC (28·7 %) and 76·4 % were in FI. An average energetic intake of 1495 kcal/d (482·0) and 0·46 mg/d (0·27) of DIA were also observed. In the DAG-guided multivariable analysis, it was observed that hemoglobin concentrations ≥ 12 mg/dl were directly associated with higher DIA (OR: 1·67; 95 % CI (1. 08, 2·59)) and OC use (OR: 1·67; 95 % CI (1·10, 2·55)) and inversely associated with mild FI (OR: 0·60; 95 % CI (0·37, 0·96)) or severe FI (OR: 0·37; 95 % CI: (0·18, 0·76)). Women taking OC and with a higher DIA were less likely to have low hemoglobin concentrations, while those in the context of FI were in the opposite situation.

Galactose and its metabolites, primarily derived from lactose, may have toxic effects on the ovary. We aimed to prospectively examine the associations of galactose and lactose intakes with the onset of natural menopause. The data of a population-based cohort study in a Japanese community (the Takayama study) initiated in 1992 were analysed, with follow-up data collected in 2002. Among the participants of the Takayama study, premenopausal women (n 3115) aged 35–56 years at baseline were included in this study. Dietary intake, including lactose and galactose was assessed only at baseline using a FFQ. The menopausal status and age at menopause were determined based on the participants’ self-reports, and natural menopause was defined as the absence of menstruation for 12 months or more. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the hazard ratios (HR) and 95 % CI. A total of 1790 women experienced natural menopause within the 10-year follow-up. Lactose and galactose intakes were associated with a later onset of natural menopause after adjusting for potential confounding factors and the HR (95 % CI) for the highest v. lowest quartile were 0·80 (0·69, 0·92) (P-trend = 0·001) in lactose and 0·86 (0·74, 1·00) in galactose (P-trend = 0·036), respectively. High intakes of lactose and galactose were associated with a later onset of natural menopause. Despite the presumed ovotoxicity effects, lactose and galactose intakes at usual levels may not be deleterious to the ovarian aging process among Japanese community-dwelling women.

Due to increased longevity, women can expect to live more than one-third of their lives in a post-menopausal state, which is characterised by low circulating levels of oestrogen and progesterone. The aim of this review is to provide insights into current knowledge of the effect of female hormones (or lack of female hormones) on skeletal muscle protein turnover at rest and in response to exercise. This review is primarily based on data from human trials. Many elderly post-menopausal women experience physical disabilities and loss of independence related to sarcopenia, which reduces life quality and is associated with substantial financial costs. Resistance training and dietary optimisation can counteract or at least decelerate the degenerative ageing process, but lack of oestrogen in post-menopausal women may reduce their sensitivity to these anabolic stimuli and accelerate muscle loss. Tendons and ligaments are also affected by sex hormones, but the effect seems to differ between endogenous and exogenous female hormones. Furthermore, the effect seems to depend on the age, and as a result influence the biomechanical properties of the ligaments and tendons differentially. Based on the present knowledge oestrogen seems to play a significant role with regard to skeletal muscle protein turnover. Therefore, oestrogen/hormonal replacement therapy may counteract the degenerative changes in skeletal muscle. Nevertheless, there is a need for greater insight into the direct and indirect mechanistic effects of female hormones before any evidence-based recommendations regarding type, dose, duration and timing of hormone replacement therapy can be provided.

The relation between inflammation deriving from diet and endometrial cancer risk has not yet been investigated. In this study, we explored the association between the dietary inflammatory index (DII) and endometrial cancer risk in an Italian case–control study. Cases comprised 454 patients with incident, histologically confirmed carcinoma of the endometrium, and controls comprised 908 subjects admitted to the same network of hospitals as cases for a wide spectrum of acute, non-neoplastic conditions. DII scores were computed on the basis of dietary intake assessed using a reproducible and valid seventy-eight-item FFQ. OR were calculated through logistic regression models conditioned on age and study centre and adjusted for recognised confounding factors, including total energy intake. Women with the most pro-inflammatory diet had a higher risk for endometrial cancer compared with women with the most anti-inflammatory diet (ORQuartile 4 v. 1 1·46; 95 % CI 1·02, 2·11; Ptrend=0·04). A pro-inflammatory diet may increase the risk for endometrial cancer.

By surveying extensive epidemiological behavioural and sexual risk factors in a Korean twin cohort, risk factors for human papillomavirus (HPV) infection were investigated in South Korea. A total of 912 vaginal specimens were collected from the Healthy Twin Study, consisting of twins and their families. A range of epidemiological, behavioural, and sexual activity characteristics were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression analyses of family and twin relationships, adjusted to elucidate the risk factors for HPV infection. Of the various epidemiological characteristics, the possibility of extramarital affairs [odds ratio (OR) 2·48, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·02–6·02] significantly increased the prevalence of HPV infection. Our multivariate regression analysis indicated that oral contraceptive use (OR 40·64, 95% CI 0·99–1670·7) and history of sexually transmitted disease (OR 2·56, 95% CI 0·93–7·10) were strongly associated with an increase in HPV infection. On the other hand, more frequent vaginal douching (OR 0·32, 95% CI 0·13–0·77) significantly decreased the prevalence of HPV infection. Our results suggested that HPV infection is associated with both biological and behavioural factors.

This study was designed to evaluate the hypothesis that hormonal change can affect lower level light-adaptation processes, which are likely to be retinally based. Foveal visual sensitivities were measured across several menstrual cycles of four women not using hormonally acting medication and across several menstrual cycles of three women using a triphasic oral contraceptive. One woman, diagnosed with premenstrual syndrome (PMS), was a subject for both groups. Sensitivities were measured for a series of test wavelengths for 580-nm backgrounds of 2.0 and 4.0 log td. Of the six individuals tested, one had clear evidence of visual-adaptation changes occurring in phase with the menstrual cycle. Prior to using the oral contraceptive, this individual (the PMS subject) experienced changes of short-wavelength-sensitive (SWS)-cone-mediated sensitivities of up to about 1.4 log unit on the 4.0 log td background. Her SWS-cone-mediated sensitivities tended to be highest near ovulation and lowest premenstrually. Threshold-versus-illuminance (TVI) curves confirmed that the rate of sensitivity decrease with increasing background illuminance (i.e. the TVI slope) was greater premenstrually. The degree of background-induced desensitization within her middle-wavelength-sensitive (MWS)/long-wavelength-sensitive (LWS) cone pathways also appeared to vary cyclically, but the magnitude of the variation was smaller and the time course appeared to be different. When this subject began oral contraceptive use, the patterns of sensitivity change were all altered. None of the other five subjects experienced changes of SWS-cone-mediated vision that were cyclic and significantly adaptation-state dependent. However, there was evidence for a limited degree of cyclic adaptation change within the MWS/LWS cone pathways of at least one additional subject. We conclude that hormonal change can—for some unknown proportion of women—be linked to alterations of retinal function. However, the alterations are not the same for all visual pathways, and there are pronounced individual differences. The data also demonstrate that individuals' visual adaptation capabilities can vary substantially over periods of weeks.