Body image in perimenopausal women.

INTRODUCTION: Menopause is the last natural menstruation, followed by a period of 12 months during which no bleeding occurs (WHO). This natural process results from the phasing out of the physiological activity of the ovaries and involves numerous psychological and somatic disturbances. Although perimenopausal ailments are experienced by most women, the correlation between their perception of the bodies and biopsychosocial functioning in the climacteric period is not fully understood. The aim of the study was to determine whether women's body image varies depending on the period of their reproductive life. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 113 women aged 25-60 were examined (both menopausal and postmenopausal) with the control group comprising 58 women. The following scales were used: the Appearance-Related Picture Self-Appraisal Form and the Appearance Self-Appraisal Scale. RESULTS: The study demonstrated statistically significant differences between the groups on 7 scales and the overall score. It can be said that postmenopausal women, whose ovarian activity has nearly ceased, in comparison with those in the premenopausal and menopausal groups attribute lower importance to the following areas of the body: eyes, nose, mouth, stomach, buttocks, thighs, and calves. The mean values of satisfaction in the three groups under comparison were not statistically different. CONCLUSIONS: The subjects of the postmenopausal group attribute lower importance to different body areas, deriving greater satisfaction from their own bodies.

Impact of experimental diabetes and chronic hypoxia on rat fetal body weight.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study is to determine the impact of the experimental diabetes and the chronic hypoxia on pregnancy development and rat fetal body weight. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The experiment was performed on female Wistar rats. Animals were divided into the experimen-tal groups. I - Controls, II - Untreated diabetes, III - Insulin-treated diabetes, IV - No diabetes with chronic hypoxia, V - Untreated diabetes and chronic hypoxia, VI - Insulin- treated diabetes and chronic hypoxia. Diabetes was induced in groups II, III, V and VI with intraperitoneal injection of streptozocin (STZ) at a dose of 40 mg/kg. Chronic hypoxia was induced by placing dams (groups IV, V and VI) in conditions of 10.5% oxygen and 89.5%. Insulin was administered subcutaneously at the dose of 9 IU/kg. Starting from the 6th day after STZ injection and chronic hypoxia conditions animals were caged together for 12 hours for 3 consecutive days to ensure fertilization. On day 21 of gestation the animals were decapitated, the fetuses were removed and weighted. RESULTS: Mean fetal body weight in separate groups were: I - 5.38 g, II - 6.04g, III - 5.32g, IV- 5.56 g, V - 3.45 g, VI - 6.23 g. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-existing type 1 diabetes does not affect fetal body weight compared to healthy newborn control rats. Pro-longed hypoxia does not impact on fetal body weight. Chronic hypoxia during pregnancy complicated with untreated type 1 diabetes mellitus leads to significant reduction of fetal body weight. Insulin treatment reversed the detrimental effect of chronic hypoxia on fetal development.

Coping with stress and quality of life in women with stress urinary incontinence.

INTRODUCTION: Urinary incontinence (UI) involves uncontrolled leakage of urine through the urethra as a result of damage to its sphincter muscle and a disturbed function of the urogenital diaphragm within the pelvis minor. The symptoms of UI radically impair psychological, somatic, and social functioning. The aim of each disease stress coping process is to reduce the impact of harmful agents as well as the acquisition of necessary preventive measures in order to combat the disorder. Aim of the study was to assess the relationship between coping styles used when dealing with stress associated with disease and the quality of life. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was carried out at an outpatients' clinic located in the Lublin Province (eastern Poland), covering 150 women with diagnosed stress urinary incontinence, aged between 32 and 79. The following methods were used: (a) Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (Endler, Parker) to assess coping styles, (b) CASP-19 scale (Higgins, Hyde, Wiggins, Blade) to measure the overall quality of life, and (c) Urinary Incontinence Life Quality Scale (Szymona-Palkowska, Kraczkowski). RESULTS: The preferred style in the studied group of women was Task-Oriented Coping. This style is associated with a low score on the Independence from Symptoms scale and low Control, being simultaneously correlated with Autonomy and Self-Realisation. Emotion-Oriented Coping is associated with low psychological, physical and social well-being, as well as with little independence from the disease symptoms, little pleasure and self-realisation, but it gives a sense of internal control. Avoidance-Oriented Coping does not significantly correlate with any of the Overall Quality of Life dimensions. CONCLUSIONS: Women suffering from UI tend to try to solve their problem by means of cognitive transformation. In their situation, clinging to the problem turns out to be a depressing factor and entails a lower quality of their life.

[Influence of chronic hypoxia on optical density of µ-opioid receptors in fetal rat brain]. / Wplyw dlugotrwalego niedotlenienia na gestosc optyczna receptorów µ-opioidowych w mózgu plodów szczurzych.

UNLABELLED: Fetal brain is considered to be the major body organ, critical for the future quality of human life. Offspring exposed to prenatal hypoxia has been evidenced to experience behavioral abnormalities as a result of the injury sustained by neuronal cells in the brain. The relatively early appearance of opioid receptors proved susceptible to endogenous and exogenous factors. Increased concentrations of neurotransmitters in the maternal circulation and amniotic fluid induced by hypoxic exposure imply their role in the regulation of cellular division and differentiation processes. Endogenous neuropeptides and specific opioid receptors are distributed in those brain structures that are associated with behavior and reproduction. Fetuses exposed to the adverse effects of increased opioid level incur structural brain tissue abnormalities. OBJECTIVES: The present study seeks to determine the effects of long-term hypoxic exposure during gestation on the expression of opioid receptors in specific brain regions in both sexes. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was conducted on pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats, (120 days old, body weight between 250 and 300 g). Experiments were carried out in order to determine the effect of long-term hypoxia on µ-opioid receptor density in selected structures of fetal central nervous system: caudate-putamen (CPu), zona germinata (ZG), nucleus accumbens (NA), olfactory tubercle (OT), Median Part Medial Preoptic Area (MMPoA) and Lateral Part Medial Preoptic Area (LMPoA). Pregnant female rats were assigned to two research groups: the control group (N=6) and the experimental group subject to prolonged hypoxia for 24 hours from the gestational day 15 to gestational day 20 (E-15-E20). At E-21 rats were sacrificed, their fetuses were removed and their brains were incubated with radioligands. The µ-opioid receptor incubation in selected brain structures was performed with a specific radioisotope [3H]DAMGO [tyrosyl-3,5,-3H(N)-D-Ala-Gly-N-methyl-Phe-Gly-enkephalin]. Optical density of µ-opioid receptors was determined at E-21 of gestation during long-term exposure to chronic hypoxia induced from E-15 to E-21 of gestation. Experimental model coupled with an innovative autoradiography allowed for a precise assessment of the lesions sustained by fetal brain tissues due to hypoxia and the adaptive mechanisms of the central nervous system in reaction to hypoxic exposure. RESULTS: Statistically significant chronic hypoxia (p<0.05) downregulated the values of µ-opioid receptors optical density in relation to control group in CPu and ZG. Chronic hypoxia in ZG substantially reduces the values of µ-opioid receptors optical density in males (p<0.05). The differences among remaining groups did not show to be statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The obtained results of µ-opioid receptor expression can be detected in specific fetal brain regions that mediate sexual behavior and may be attributable to behavioral changes of experimental animals due to hypoxic exposure during gestation.

Selected determinants of quality of life in women with urinary incontinence.

Urinary incontinence (UI) is one of the most common diseases in women. It involves uncontrolled leaking of urine through the urethra. UI incidence depends on age and in certain age groups it can affect up to 60% of the female population. The symptoms can be persistent and due to their embarrassing nature they can lead to significant deterioration of quality of life and psychological functioning. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the quality of life and selected aspects of functioning. Seventy female outpatients of a public clinic in Naleczów, Poland, were examined, and the following methods were used: the Urinary Incontinence Life Quality Scale (Szymona-Palkowska, Kraczkowski), Disease-Related Appraisal Scale (Janowski, Steuden), Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (Endler, Parker), Disease-Related Social Support Scale (Brachowicz, Janowski, Sadowska), and the Knowledge Appraisal Scale for Urinary Incontinence (Szymona-Palkowska, Kraczkowski). The obtained results suggest that the strongest predictors for the quality of life with UI would be: perception of the disease as an injustice and a challenge (a reverse relationship) and an avoidance-oriented style of coping with stress through companionship seeking (a positive relationship). The duration of the disease and the level of related knowledge proved to be crucial in the analysis of one dimension, i.e. distance to the symptoms.

[Maternal serum concentration of angiogenic factors: PIGF, VEGF and VEGFR-1 and placental volume in pregnancies complicated by intrauterine growth restriction]. / Ocena lozyskowych czynników angiogennych (PIGF, VEGF, VEGF R1) oraz objetosci lozyska w ciazach powiklanych opóznieniem wzrastania wewnatrzmacicznego plodu (IUGR).

INTRODUCTION: Pathomechanism of intrauterine growth restriction is a complex issue, involving many different factors, and is still undergoing an investigation. Improper placental angiogenesis, resulting in placental pathology, is considered to be one of the most important causes of IUGR. Placental vascular growth factors--placental growth factor (PIGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor (VEGFR-1), are involved in the mechanism of placental vascular development and maternal endothelial function during the pregnancy. AIM: The aim of our study was to evaluate the maternal serum concentration of vascular growth factors (PIGF, VEGF) and their receptor (VEGFR-1), as well as the placental volume in pregnancies complicated by IUGR, and to compare the results with healthy control groups. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 20 patients with intrauterine growth restriction and 18 healthy pregnant women were recruited. Their blood serum samples were assayed for the placental growth factor (PIGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and their receptor (VEGFR-1). These placental factors were measured with the ELISA- method (R@D Systems Kits. In all cases the placental volume was assessed with an ultrasound (Voluson V730 GE) with VOCAL (Virtual Organ Komputer-aided AnaLysis). RESULTS: Our investigation revealed significantly lower maternal serum concentrations of PIGF in pregnancies with IUGR, comparing to the controls in the third trimester. In most cases, VEGF concentrations were undetectable in the maternal serum both, in the second as well as in the third trimester. In the 2nd trimester VEGFR-1 concentrations were statistically higher in the investigated group. In the 3rd trimester the concentrations of VEGFR-1 were higher in the investigated group, but the difference has not achieved the level of statistical importance. The mean placental volume was lower in the investigated group but with not statistical gnificance. CONCLUSIONS: Presented and documented dependencies may indicate the involvement of angiogenic factors in a pathomechanism of intrauterine growth restriction process. It seems that the measurement of placental volume may be useful in IUGR diagnosis. However, it should be a complementary examination only, due to technical limitations.