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Healthy Young Women (healthy + young_woman)
Selected AbstractsEffects of Alcohol on Sleep and the Sleep Electroencephalogram in Healthy Young WomenALCOHOLISM, Issue 6 2006Eliza Van Reen Background: Although the association between sleep and alcohol has been of interest to scientists for decades, the effects of alcohol on sleep and sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) have not been extensively studied in women. Our specific aim was to determine whether sleep stage variables and/or spectral characteristics of the sleep EEG are altered by alcohol administration in women. Methods: Changes of sleep and the sleep EEG were investigated after administration of a moderate dose of alcohol (0.49 g/kg) in the hour before bedtime compared with placebo in young healthy women. After approximately 2 weeks at home on a fixed 8.5- or 9-hour stabilization sleep schedule, sleep was continuously recorded by polysomnography for 3 consecutive nights [adaptation, placebo, alcohol (mean breath alcohol concentration 0.043 g/% before bedtime)] in the laboratory in 7 women (ages 22,25, mean=23.5, SD=1 year). Sleep stages were scored according to conventional criteria. Electroencephalogram power spectra of the bipolar derivations Fz/Cz (anterior) and Pz/Oz (posterior) were calculated using a fast Fourier transform routine. Results: Only few changes in sleep and the sleep EEG were observed. Across the entire night rapid eye movement (REM) sleep decreased, while minutes of stage 4 sleep were increased in the first 2-hour interval on alcohol nights compared with placebo nights. Spectral analysis of the EEG showed increased power in the , range (9,11 Hz) during all-night non-REM (NREM) sleep in anterior derivations after alcohol compared with placebo. Differences in spectral EEG power were also present in 2-hour intervals of NREM sleep; in particular, EEG power was increased on the alcohol night for frequency bins within the , range in anterior derivations and within the , range (3,4 Hz) in posterior derivations during the initial part of the night. Conclusions: A moderate dose of alcohol just before bedtime resulted in a short-lived increase in sleep intensity. A limitation of the study, however, was that only a single dose of alcohol was used to examine the effects of alcohol on sleep. [source] Menstrual cycle symptoms are associated with changes in low-grade inflammationEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL INVESTIGATION, Issue 1 2006J. J. Puder Abstract Background, A close link between mood, low-grade inflammation and obesity has been demonstrated even in healthy subjects. We investigated the relationship between changes in physical and psychological symptoms and inflammatory markers during the menstrual cycle both in normal weight and in overweight women. Materials and methods, Eight healthy normal weight (body mass index 21·6 ± 1·9 kg m,2) and seven overweight (body mass index 30 ± 2·4 kg m,2) young women with normal ovarian function and with no premenstrual syndrome were assessed 15 times throughout their menstrual cycle. At each time point fasting blood was drawn and symptoms were recorded using the Freeman Daily Symptom Record. Results, Independent of weight status, the serum concentrations of highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and the total scores, in addition to the individual four factors (mood, behaviour, pain and physical symptoms), of the Daily Symptom Record varied significantly during the menstrual cycle (all P , 0·04) and paralleled each other. During the menstrual cycle, repeated hs-CRP serum concentrations correlated to the corresponding total symptom score and the factors mood, behaviour and physical symptoms, independent of both weight status and changes in circulating gonadal steroids (all P , 0·04). These associations were not observed for tumour necrosis factor-, serum levels. The mean hs-CRP concentrations were associated with the mean total symptom score, independent of weight status (r = 0·56, P = 0·04). Conclusion, Healthy young women showed psychological and physical symptoms during the menstrual cycle which changed in association with alterations in low-grade inflammation and which were independent of body weight or plasma levels of gonadal steroids. [source] Cutaneous pseudolymphoma associated with molluscum contagiosum: a case reportINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, Issue 5 2008Javier Del Boz González MD We report an unusual case of molluscum contagiosum associated with pseudolymphoma in an otherwise healthy young woman. She presented with a 2-week history of a rapidly enlarging painful umbilicated nodule behind her right ear. With the clinical presentation suspicious for a tumoral lesion, we decided to remove it surgically. Histological examination showed a florid cellular infiltrate surrounding a typical lesion of molluscum contagiosum. The infiltrate was composed of small to large pleomorphic lymphocytes. However, clonal TCR rearrangement could not be demonstrated. As far as we know this is the first case where the clinical picture is shown. [source] Gonadal steroids and salivary IgA in healthy young women and menAMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 3 2010Sari M. Van Anders Empirical evidence from clinical, nonhuman animal, and in vitro studies point to links between immune function and gonadal steroids, including potential androgenic immunosuppression and estrogenic immunoenhancement. This study was designed to test links between steroids and one marker of mucosal humoral immunity,immunoglobulin A (IgA) in healthy individuals, to facilitate comparisons with other species and clinical populations, as there are few existing studies with healthy humans that also allow gender/sex investigations. Participants (86 women, 91 men) provided a saliva sample for measurement of testosterone (T), estradiol (E2), and IgA. Results showed that E2 was significantly and positively correlated with IgA in women, and group analyses by E2 quartile showed that this association was linear. No significant correlations or nonlinear associations were seen between T and IgA in men or women, or E2 and IgA in men. Evidence from this study indicates that IgA and E2 are significantly associated in healthy premenopausal women. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Potential association between endogenous leptin and sympatho-vagal activities in young obese Japanese womenAMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2003Tamaki Matsumoto Leptin is an adipocyte-derived hormone that decreases food intake and increases energy expenditure through the activation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). Notwithstanding recent intensive research, the underlying physiological mechanism of leptin as well as the etiology of obesity in humans remains elusive. The present study attempted to investigate the potential association between endogenous circulating leptin and sympatho-vagal activities in age- and height-matched obese and nonobese healthy young women. Plasma leptin concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay. The autonomic nervous system activity was assessed during the resting condition by means of a recently devised power spectral analysis of heart rate variability, which serves to identify three separate frequency components, very low (VLO), low (LO), and high (HI). Plasma leptin concentrations were greater in the obese than in the control group (45.7 ± 5.89 vs. 11.2 ± 1.10 ng · ml,1, P < 0.01). As to the contribution of endogenous leptin to SNS activity, both the ratios of the VLO frequency component reflecting thermoregulatory sympathetic function and the global SNS index [(VLO + LO)/HI] to plasma leptin concentration were markedly reduced in the obese compared to the control group (VLO per leptin: 5.9 ± 1.39 vs. 37.8 ± 8.1 ms2 · ml · ng,1, P < 0.01; SNS index per leptin: 0.04 ± 0.008 vs. 0.33 ± 0.01 ml,,·,ng,1, P < 0.01). Additionally, a nonlinear regression analysis revealed that these ratios exponentially decreased as a function of body fat content (VLO per leptin r2 = 0.57, P < 0.01; SNS index per leptin r2 = 0.53, P < 0.01). Our data suggest that reduced sympathetic responsiveness to endogenous leptin production, implying peripheral leptin resistance, might be a pathophysiological feature of obesity in otherwise healthy young women. The findings regarding the association of leptin, body fat content, and SNS activity further indicate that the 30% of total body fat, which has been used as a criterion of obesity, might be a critical point at which leptin resistance is induced. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 15:8,15, 2003. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Association Between Birth Control Pills and Voice QualityTHE LARYNGOSCOPE, Issue 6 2004Ofer Amir PhD Abstract Objectives/Hypothesis: The objective was to extend our knowledge of the effect of birth control pills on voice quality in women based on various acoustic measures. Study Design: A longitudinal comparative study of 14 healthy young women over a 36- to 45-day period. Methods: Voices of seven women who used birth control pills and seven women who did not were recorded repeatedly approximately 20 times. Voice samples were analyzed acoustically, using an extended set of frequency perturbation parameters (jitter, relative average perturbation, pitch period perturbation quotient), amplitude perturbation parameters (shimmer, amplitude average perturbation quotient), and noise indices (noise-to-harmonics ratio, voice turbulence index). Results: Voice quality and stability were found to be better among the women who used birth control pills. Lower values were found for all acoustic measures with the exception of voice turbulence index. Results also provided preliminary indication for vocal changes associated with the days preceding ovulation. Conclusion: In contrast to the traditional view of oral contraceptives as a risk factor for voice quality, and in keeping with the authors' previous work, the data in the present study showed that not only did oral contraceptives have no adverse effect on voice quality but, in effect, most acoustic measures showed improved voice quality among women who used the birth control pill. The differences in the noise indices between groups may also shed light on the nature of the effect of sex hormones on vocal fold activity. It was suggested that hormonal fluctuations may have more of an effect on vocal fold regulation of vibration than on glottal adduction. [source] | ||||||||||