Vitamin D and PTH status among adolescent and young females with severe dysmenorrhea.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate Vitamin D and parathyroid hormone (PTH) status among adolescent and young females with severe and very severe dysmenorrhea. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study in specific selected sample. SETTING: One Jordanian university. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-six females, ages between 17 and 24 years, with severe and very severe dysmenorrhea were surveyed regarding demographics, pain with menstruation, and dietary intake of dairy products. Plasma Vitamin D, PTH levels were measured. RESULTS: About 61% of the studied population experience very severe dysmenorrhea. Half of participants had dairy intake less than 1 serving per day. The majority of participants (80%) had insufficient plasma vitamin D and 48% of them had hyperparathyroidism. CONCLUSION: A high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency and secondary hyperparathyroidism and/or low dietary calcium intake among adolescent and young adult females who experience severe and very severe dysmenorrhea may negatively affect bone metabolism during achievement of peak bone mass at a young age and adverse bone health at older age.

Periodontal status of diabetics compared with nondiabetics: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: This meta-analysis was conducted to assess the association between diabetes mellitus and periodontal diseases by comparing the extent and severity of periodontal diseases between diabetics and nondiabetics. METHODS: A literature search was performed using MEDLINE database for published studies from January 1970 through October 2003 with manual search for references in relevant studies. This meta-analysis was based on 18 comparative cross-sectional studies, three prospective cohort studies and baseline data of two clinical trials that compared oral hygiene, gingival and periodontal status between diabetics and nondiabetics. Heterogeneity was obvious among included studies; therefore, the analysis using random-effects model was conducted. RESULTS: This study demonstrated that diabetics had significantly worse oral hygiene as measured by the average of plaque index (P1I), higher severity of gingival disease as measured by the average of gingival index (GI) and higher severity of periodontal disease as measured by the average of probing pocket depth (PPD) and clinical attachment loss (CAL). However, diabetics had similar extent of oral hygiene, gingival and periodontal disease as measured by percentages of surfaces or sites with specific scores of P1I, GI, bleeding on probing (BOP), PPD and CAL. CONCLUSIONS: Diabetics had a significantly higher severity but the same extent of periodontal disease than nondiabetics.