Effects of Age, Parity, and Adherence on Pelvic Muscle Response to Exercise

OBJECTIVE: To examine factors that affect pelvic muscle response to 12 weeks of pelvic muscle exercise. DESIGN: Repeated measures design in which intravaginal pressures during pelvic muscle contractions were recorded at baseline and after four exercise levels. SETTING: College of Nursing research site in Gainesville, Florida. PARTICIPANTS: Eighty-five parous, community-dwelling women, aged 35-78 years and without incontinence as a primary concern. INTERVENTIONS: A 12-week graded program of regular (three times per week, every other day) pelvic muscle exercise at home. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The hypotheses were that younger age, lower parity, higher baseline intravaginal pressures, and adherence to the pelvic muscle exercise program each would result in significant improvement in maximum intravaginal pressures. RESULTS: The only factor showing significance in predicting a successful outcome was age (t = -2.29, df = 41, one-tail probability = .0136). CONCLUSIONS: Regular, graded exercise over several weeks is needed to build pelvic muscles, and some women who exercise do not improve. Although the reasons for not improving are unclear, age is a significant factor.     

Complementary Medicine Practices in a Community-Based Sample of Lesbian and Heterosexual Women

While researchers have examined the established the foundation for understanding the correlates of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use among some medical populations, less is known about the correlates of CAM use in nonclinical samples of women, and particularly according to sexual orientation. Information on CAM modalities was collected as part of a survey of lesbian and heterosexual women's health. Eighty-two percent of the sample reported CAM use. Predictors of CAM use included a lesbian sexual orientation, less health-related worry, and perceived discrimination in health care settings. Additional research is warranted to better understand how sexual orientation relates to use of CAM. Future studies should also examine the relationships between and experiences with discrimination in traditional medical settings and increased use of complementary and alternative medicine.     

Lipids and lipoproteins in women after oophorectomy and the response to oestrogen therapy

Summary. The short-term effects of different types and doses of oestrogen on serum lipids and lipoproteins were studied in 35 oophorectomized women. After 3 months treatment, serum cholesterol levels were unaffected by 1 and 2mg of micronized l7bT-oestradiol or 0.625 and l.25mg of conjugated equine oestrogens. Triglyceride levels were significantly elevated after treatment with l.25mg of conjugated oestrogens. A trend towards a higher relative proportion of high-density lipoproteins and a lower relative proportion of low-density lipoproteins was observed for all four oestrogen regimens, however, statistical significance was not achieved. The proportion of very-low-density lipoprotein was unaffected by oestrogen treatment. The age of the oophorectomized women was found to have no effect on either the direction or magnitude of the lipid or lipoprotein responses to oestrogen. Using FSH depression as an index, 1 .25 mg of conjugated oestrogens was found to be the most potent of the four oestrogen regimens tested. Therefore, with respect to lipid balance, little additional clinical benefit is achieved by using a more potent regimen and the risk of adverse side effects may be increased.