ABSTRACT
The boy-to-girl ratio at birth (secondary sex ratio) is around 0.51 in most populations. The sex ratio varies between societies and may be influenced by many factors, such as stress and immunosuppression, age, primiparity, the sex of the preceding siblings and the socioeconomic status of the parents. As parasite infection affects many immunological and physiological parameters of the host, we analyzed the effect of latent toxoplasmosis on sex ratios in humans. Clinical records of 1,803 infants born from 1996 to 2004 contained information regarding the mother's age, concentration of anti-Toxoplasma antibodies, previous deliveries and abortions and the sex of the newborn. The results of our retrospective cohort study suggest that the presence of one of the most common parasites (with a worldwide prevalence from 20 to 80%), Toxoplasma gondii, can influence the secondary sex ratio in humans. Depending on the antibody concentration, the probability of the birth of a boy can increase up to a value of 0.72, C.I.95 = (0.636, 0.805), which means that for every 260 boys born, 100 girls are born to women with the highest concentration of anti-Toxoplasma antibodies. The toxoplasmosis associated with immunosuppression or immunomodulation might be responsible for the enhanced survival of male embryos. In light of the high prevalence of latent toxoplasmosis in most countries, the impact of toxoplasmosis on the human population might be considerable.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Protozoan/blood , Pregnancy/immunology , Sex Ratio , Toxoplasmosis/complications , Animals , Female , Humans , Male , ToxoplasmaABSTRACT
The combined hormonal contraception is the most efficient reversible variety of family planning. The modern low doses combined hormonal contraception have a high efficacy with minimal risks. Users are still in risks of cardiovascular complications. The combined hormone contraception also has positive noncontraceptive effects on menstrual disorders, hyperandrogenism, cysts of ovary, pelipathy etc. The benefits are higher than the risks only when respecting the basic rules of the combined hormonal contraception prescription.
Subject(s)
Contraceptives, Oral, Combined/adverse effects , Contraceptives, Oral, Hormonal/adverse effects , Contraceptives, Oral, Combined/administration & dosage , Contraceptives, Oral, Hormonal/administration & dosage , Female , HumansABSTRACT
A group of 70 female patients with adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix treated between 1976 and 1995 at the 2nd Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General Hospital, Prague, was evaluated retrospectively. They represented 8.6% of all patients with cervical cancer in this period. The mean age was 57.9 years and increased according to the clinical stage of disease. Some features of the patient history were similar to those of endometrial cancer. The most frequent symptom was abnormal bleeding (70%). The limited importance of praebioptic diagnostic methods was confirmed. Better treatment results were achieved by the surgical or combined treatment in comparison with radiotherapy alone. From histological types the worst results had a clear cell carcinoma. The recurrence rate was 13.4%. The overall 5-year survival was 43.1% (68% for the stage 1, 40% for the stage 2 and 22% for the stages 3 + 4). The average survival time was 96.1 months.
