Menstrual Perceptions and Preparation Among Female Adolescents

Seventy-four 8th- and 10th-grade students attending a private girls' school in Hawaii were queried about their perceptions of and preparation for menstruation using a questionnaire administered in a health education class. Eighty percent had already started menstruating. The most frequently cited perceptions by the respondents referred to both the inconveniences and the normalcy of menstruation. Many were first informed about menstruation by their mothers and stated that they also first informed their mothers when they started menstruating. Surprise, fear, and embarrassment were common initial reactions, while strong negative or positive emotions were more rare. Only 35% wanted boys and girls together during class discussion, but 89% stated that boys needed to be informed about menstruation. The most frequent reasons cited for noncoed settings were the girls' concern about their comfort in openly discussing menstruation. Thirty-eight percent thought parents should inform other siblings when they started menstruation, although almost half gave specific conditions the parents should consider. The majority thought the fifth to sixth grades were the best times to introduce menstruation content.     

HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor cerivastatin prolonged rat cardiac allograft survival by blocking intercellular signals.

BACKGROUND: The development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular complications caused by hyperlipidemia is a common and serious problem for long-term survivors of organ transplantation. However, adhesion molecules such as intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 and lymphocyte function-associated antigen (LFA)-1 are involved in allograft rejection, possibly by providing costimulatory signals. 3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitor cerivastatin has been shown to suppress ICAM-1 expression in acute inflammatory responses. METHODS: In this study, we evaluated the immunosuppressive effects of cerivastatin in rat cardiac allografts. The hearts of Fischer rats were transplanted heterotopically into Lewis rats. Cerivastatin (2 mg/kg) was administrated intraperitoneally to recipients for 7 consecutive days from the day before transplantation. RESULTS: Graft survival in the cerivastatin-treated group (n = 8) was significantly longer than in controls (n = 10) (24.6 +/- 2.2 days vs 10.2 +/- 1.3 days, p < 0.05). Mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) showed that on Day 8 after grafting, the proliferative response of alloreactive T cells against F344 alloantigen in cerivastatin-treated rats was significantly more suppressed than in Lewis rats. The Interleukin-2 concentration of supernatant in MLR cultures in the cerivastatin-treated group was lower than in the control group. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that the percentage of CD4-positive cells to infiltrating mononuclear cells was less prominent in the cerivastatin-treated group (9.8% +/- 2.2%) than in the control group (20.9% +/- 3.2%). CONCLUSIONS: The HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor cerivastatin effectively suppressed acute graft rejection, possibly by blocking intercellular signals via ICAM/LFA-1, and cerivastatin may be a candidate for treating patients with hyperlipidemia who undergo organ transplantation.