Not contradicting the religion. Islam has been putting on emphasis on family planning for 14 centuries.

PIP: Family planning did not historically and does not in modern times contradict the cultural and religious beliefs of Islamic nations. Family planning services should therefore be made available to people who need them. Family planning should not, however, be forced. It is imperative that couples' fundamental right to freely decide the number and spacing of their children is respected. Couples must be informed and educated to exercise that freedom consciously. The Turkish Family Health and Planning Foundation, a 10-year-old private social organization, actively promotes family planning projects with the goal of reducing the demand for abortion and the related maternal and child mortality. Family remains at the heart of both Turkey and Islam. The Turkish Family Health and Planning Foundation hopes that future generations of families will be happy in their work, well-fed, well-clothed, and well-sheltered, with high levels of educational achievement and ethical and moral values.^ieng

Cyproheptadine treatment in Cushing's disease.

Cyproheptadine, a nonselective 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor blocking agent, reduces ACTH and beta-endorphin secretion from the ACTH-producing tumors. A 35-year-old female suffering from Cushing's disease due to microadenoma of the pituitary gland has been followed since the age of 15. Subtotal adrenalectomy followed by total adrenalectomy, pituitary irradiation, and transsphenoidal hypophysectomy, combined with second radiotherapy of the pituitary, were unsuccessful in achieving remission of the disease. Remission was achieved with cyproheptadine up to a dosage of 24 mg/day. Every attempt to discontinue cyproheptadine treatment was accompanied by recurrence of the disease. This is the first case of Cushing's disease in which cyproheptadine treatment has been the only efficacious therapy for a period of 11 yr. Cyproheptadine may be an alternative long-term therapy for Cushing's disease when other methods of treatment fail.

[Behaviour of the sella turcica in juveniles with severe iron deficiency (author's transl)]. / Das Verhalten der Sella turcica bei jugendlichen Patienten mit schwerer Eisenmangelkrankheit.

In juvenile patients with a severe and longstanding iron deficiency disease several abnormal features such as delayed growth, retarded development and maturation are displayed. The roentgenological examination of the sella turcica in 81 patients and the determination of the sellar size in 73 cases, including 40 men and 33 women, by employing the method of Haas with a slight modification and the following comparison of the results with the values obtained by this author in normal individuals of the same sex and age revealed that in the iron deficient patients the sellar area is considerably reduced. In addition, it could be shown that in the patients the normal augmentation of the size with the advancing age is likewise diminished and comes to an early standstill. It could be, moreover, demonstrated that in men the sellar size and growth are more reduced than in women and that the difference in the patients is much larger than the difference existing normally between both sexes. The reduced size of the sella turcica in the patients indicated that the pituitary gland placed in the sellar cavity is likewise diminished and that the activity of the gland, as far as the function is related to the volume, is equally decreased. This assumption is in good keeping with the clinical findings in the patients being attributed to a low and failing hormonal activity. The close relation between volume and function of the pituitary gland, is proved by the observation made in the patients after the administration of iron showing that the size of the sella is considerably augmented during a relatively short space of time and that at the same time a definite amelioration of clinical symptoms occurs. Thus the X-ray examination of the sella turcica and the determination of its area is a suitable method for a comparative investigation of the size and function of the pituitary gland. It offers a valuable tool for studying the disorders of growth, development and maturation in juvenile patients with a severe and longstanding iron deficiency disease and for investigating the relation of these clinical features to the pituitary function.