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Long-Term Irritable Bowel Therapy
Alosetron provides significant long-term relief for women with symptoms of severe, chronic, diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome, reported William D. Chey, M.D., of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and his associates.
Compared with 290 patients randomized to placebo, significantly more of 279 patients randomized to the selective 5-HT3-receptor antagonist alosetron (Lotronex) had adequate relief from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) pain and discomfort (44% vs. 52%) and satisfactory urgency control rates (52% vs. 64%) after 48 weeks of treatment (Am. J. Gastroenterol. 2004;99:2195-203).
Significantly more alosetron patients reported adequate relief from IBS pain and discomfort as well as satisfactory urgency control rates regardless of whether they did or did not use rescue medication such as laxatives and antidiarrheals. But the two groups did not differ in rates of satisfactory control of stool frequency and consistency when rescue medications were used.
Constipation occurred significantly more often in alosetron (23%) than in placebo patients (5%), although in most cases it was a single episode that developed in the first month of treatment.
Endometritis and BV Linked
Bacterial vaginosis-associated organisms found frequently in women with pelvic inflammatory disease also were strongly associated with endometritis, Catherine L. Haggerty, Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh and her colleagues reported.
The investigators looked at the associations between endometritis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, anaerobic bacteria, facultative bacteria, lactobacilli, and bacterial vaginosis (BV) in 278 women from the PID Evaluation and Clinical Health Study.
Those who had acute endometritis were more likely to be infected with C. trachomatis (odds ratio [OR] 16·2), N. gonorrhoeae (OR 11·6), diphtheroids (OR 5·0), black-pigmented gram-negative rods (OR 3·1), and anaerobic gram-positive cocci (OR 2·1), they reported (Clin. Infect. Dis. 2004:39;990-5).
The associations between acute endometritis and black-pigmented gram-negative rods, anaerobic gram-positive cocci, and BV remained significant after excluding the 41% of women who were infected with N. gonorrhoeae and/or C. trachomatis.
Treatment in most PID patients is directed at N. gonorrhoeae and C. trachomatis, but these account for fewer than half of all cases. The frequency of BV-associated organisms in PID patients suggests that treatment with a regimen containing metronidazole to improve anaerobic coverage is warranted, the investigators said.
HIV: What Women Don't Know
Many women aged 50 years and older lack appropriate knowledge about HIV transmission and prevention, according to findings published in the September issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Nearly two-thirds of women incorrectly identified kissing as a mode of HIV transmission, 76% overestimated oral sex as a mode of HIV transmission, and only 13% identified condoms as effective in preventing HIV. The study was based on a survey of 514 women at a hospital in Atlanta (J. Am. Geriatr. Soc. 2004;52:1549-53).
“The problem is that they don't realize that they're at risk for this life-threatening disease,” said Lisa Bernstein, M.D., of Emory University, Atlanta, and one of the study's lead authors.
“Physicians have a tremendous role to play in educating patients—even those who are older than we normally think to be at risk.” Health care providers need to talk to their older female patients about HIV risk factors and the basics of HIV transmission and prevention, the authors concluded.
Elective Induction and C-Section Rate
Elective induction does not adversely affect the C-section rate or maternal fetal morbidity, said David J. Bonilla, M.D., and colleagues in a poster presentation at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' District VII in Washington.
They conducted a retrospective cohort study of 361 nulliparous patients between 37 and 41 weeks' gestation who had singleton pregnancies, with no medical indications for delivery.
Patients were divided into a spontaneous labor group and another group that had elective induction with a favorable cervix (Bishop score 5 or greater), according to the research team, headed by Dr. Bonilla of the Ochsner Clinic Foundation, New Orleans.
The C-section rate was 9·7% for 114 patients who had elective induction with a favorable cervix vs. a rate of 17·3% for 247 patients who had spontaneous labor. The induction group had a slightly higher rate of instrumental delivery, compared with the spontaneous labor group (31·88% vs. 22·6%).
There was a slight increase in admissions to the neonatal intensive care unit in the elective induction group, compared with the other group (1·45% vs. 3·23%), but it was not significant.
Long-Term Irritable Bowel Therapy
Alosetron provides significant long-term relief for women with symptoms of severe, chronic, diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome, reported William D. Chey, M.D., of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and his associates.
Compared with 290 patients randomized to placebo, significantly more of 279 patients randomized to the selective 5-HT3-receptor antagonist alosetron (Lotronex) had adequate relief from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) pain and discomfort (44% vs. 52%) and satisfactory urgency control rates (52% vs. 64%) after 48 weeks of treatment (Am. J. Gastroenterol. 2004;99:2195-203).
Significantly more alosetron patients reported adequate relief from IBS pain and discomfort as well as satisfactory urgency control rates regardless of whether they did or did not use rescue medication such as laxatives and antidiarrheals. But the two groups did not differ in rates of satisfactory control of stool frequency and consistency when rescue medications were used.
Constipation occurred significantly more often in alosetron (23%) than in placebo patients (5%), although in most cases it was a single episode that developed in the first month of treatment.
Endometritis and BV Linked
Bacterial vaginosis-associated organisms found frequently in women with pelvic inflammatory disease also were strongly associated with endometritis, Catherine L. Haggerty, Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh and her colleagues reported.
The investigators looked at the associations between endometritis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, anaerobic bacteria, facultative bacteria, lactobacilli, and bacterial vaginosis (BV) in 278 women from the PID Evaluation and Clinical Health Study.
Those who had acute endometritis were more likely to be infected with C. trachomatis (odds ratio [OR] 16·2), N. gonorrhoeae (OR 11·6), diphtheroids (OR 5·0), black-pigmented gram-negative rods (OR 3·1), and anaerobic gram-positive cocci (OR 2·1), they reported (Clin. Infect. Dis. 2004:39;990-5).
The associations between acute endometritis and black-pigmented gram-negative rods, anaerobic gram-positive cocci, and BV remained significant after excluding the 41% of women who were infected with N. gonorrhoeae and/or C. trachomatis.
Treatment in most PID patients is directed at N. gonorrhoeae and C. trachomatis, but these account for fewer than half of all cases. The frequency of BV-associated organisms in PID patients suggests that treatment with a regimen containing metronidazole to improve anaerobic coverage is warranted, the investigators said.
HIV: What Women Don't Know
Many women aged 50 years and older lack appropriate knowledge about HIV transmission and prevention, according to findings published in the September issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Nearly two-thirds of women incorrectly identified kissing as a mode of HIV transmission, 76% overestimated oral sex as a mode of HIV transmission, and only 13% identified condoms as effective in preventing HIV. The study was based on a survey of 514 women at a hospital in Atlanta (J. Am. Geriatr. Soc. 2004;52:1549-53).
“The problem is that they don't realize that they're at risk for this life-threatening disease,” said Lisa Bernstein, M.D., of Emory University, Atlanta, and one of the study's lead authors.
“Physicians have a tremendous role to play in educating patients—even those who are older than we normally think to be at risk.” Health care providers need to talk to their older female patients about HIV risk factors and the basics of HIV transmission and prevention, the authors concluded.
Elective Induction and C-Section Rate
Elective induction does not adversely affect the C-section rate or maternal fetal morbidity, said David J. Bonilla, M.D., and colleagues in a poster presentation at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' District VII in Washington.
They conducted a retrospective cohort study of 361 nulliparous patients between 37 and 41 weeks' gestation who had singleton pregnancies, with no medical indications for delivery.
Patients were divided into a spontaneous labor group and another group that had elective induction with a favorable cervix (Bishop score 5 or greater), according to the research team, headed by Dr. Bonilla of the Ochsner Clinic Foundation, New Orleans.
The C-section rate was 9·7% for 114 patients who had elective induction with a favorable cervix vs. a rate of 17·3% for 247 patients who had spontaneous labor. The induction group had a slightly higher rate of instrumental delivery, compared with the spontaneous labor group (31·88% vs. 22·6%).
There was a slight increase in admissions to the neonatal intensive care unit in the elective induction group, compared with the other group (1·45% vs. 3·23%), but it was not significant.
Long-Term Irritable Bowel Therapy
Alosetron provides significant long-term relief for women with symptoms of severe, chronic, diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome, reported William D. Chey, M.D., of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and his associates.
Compared with 290 patients randomized to placebo, significantly more of 279 patients randomized to the selective 5-HT3-receptor antagonist alosetron (Lotronex) had adequate relief from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) pain and discomfort (44% vs. 52%) and satisfactory urgency control rates (52% vs. 64%) after 48 weeks of treatment (Am. J. Gastroenterol. 2004;99:2195-203).
Significantly more alosetron patients reported adequate relief from IBS pain and discomfort as well as satisfactory urgency control rates regardless of whether they did or did not use rescue medication such as laxatives and antidiarrheals. But the two groups did not differ in rates of satisfactory control of stool frequency and consistency when rescue medications were used.
Constipation occurred significantly more often in alosetron (23%) than in placebo patients (5%), although in most cases it was a single episode that developed in the first month of treatment.
Endometritis and BV Linked
Bacterial vaginosis-associated organisms found frequently in women with pelvic inflammatory disease also were strongly associated with endometritis, Catherine L. Haggerty, Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh and her colleagues reported.
The investigators looked at the associations between endometritis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, anaerobic bacteria, facultative bacteria, lactobacilli, and bacterial vaginosis (BV) in 278 women from the PID Evaluation and Clinical Health Study.
Those who had acute endometritis were more likely to be infected with C. trachomatis (odds ratio [OR] 16·2), N. gonorrhoeae (OR 11·6), diphtheroids (OR 5·0), black-pigmented gram-negative rods (OR 3·1), and anaerobic gram-positive cocci (OR 2·1), they reported (Clin. Infect. Dis. 2004:39;990-5).
The associations between acute endometritis and black-pigmented gram-negative rods, anaerobic gram-positive cocci, and BV remained significant after excluding the 41% of women who were infected with N. gonorrhoeae and/or C. trachomatis.
Treatment in most PID patients is directed at N. gonorrhoeae and C. trachomatis, but these account for fewer than half of all cases. The frequency of BV-associated organisms in PID patients suggests that treatment with a regimen containing metronidazole to improve anaerobic coverage is warranted, the investigators said.
HIV: What Women Don't Know
Many women aged 50 years and older lack appropriate knowledge about HIV transmission and prevention, according to findings published in the September issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Nearly two-thirds of women incorrectly identified kissing as a mode of HIV transmission, 76% overestimated oral sex as a mode of HIV transmission, and only 13% identified condoms as effective in preventing HIV. The study was based on a survey of 514 women at a hospital in Atlanta (J. Am. Geriatr. Soc. 2004;52:1549-53).
“The problem is that they don't realize that they're at risk for this life-threatening disease,” said Lisa Bernstein, M.D., of Emory University, Atlanta, and one of the study's lead authors.
“Physicians have a tremendous role to play in educating patients—even those who are older than we normally think to be at risk.” Health care providers need to talk to their older female patients about HIV risk factors and the basics of HIV transmission and prevention, the authors concluded.
Elective Induction and C-Section Rate
Elective induction does not adversely affect the C-section rate or maternal fetal morbidity, said David J. Bonilla, M.D., and colleagues in a poster presentation at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' District VII in Washington.
They conducted a retrospective cohort study of 361 nulliparous patients between 37 and 41 weeks' gestation who had singleton pregnancies, with no medical indications for delivery.
Patients were divided into a spontaneous labor group and another group that had elective induction with a favorable cervix (Bishop score 5 or greater), according to the research team, headed by Dr. Bonilla of the Ochsner Clinic Foundation, New Orleans.
The C-section rate was 9·7% for 114 patients who had elective induction with a favorable cervix vs. a rate of 17·3% for 247 patients who had spontaneous labor. The induction group had a slightly higher rate of instrumental delivery, compared with the spontaneous labor group (31·88% vs. 22·6%).
There was a slight increase in admissions to the neonatal intensive care unit in the elective induction group, compared with the other group (1·45% vs. 3·23%), but it was not significant.