PubMed · 9764081
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R Laugharne, T Upex, E Palazidou. 1998. Dysmorphophobia by proxy.. https://doi.org/10.1177/014107689809100507
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BACKGROUND: Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms whose etiology remains largely undefined. A role for female hormones in the development of STS has been suggested. To investigate this possibility, the authors analyzed data from a hospital-based case-control study conducted in Northern Italy between 1983 and 1998. METHODS: Cases were 104 women aged < 79 years with incident STS who were admitted to the cancer institutes and major teaching and general hospitals. Controls were 505 women admitted to the same network of hospitals for acute, nonneoplastic, nongynecologic, and nonimmune-related conditions. RESULTS: The multivariate odds ratio (OR) for women aged >/= 15 years compared with those aged < 12 years at menarche was 1.94 (95% confidence intervals [95% CI], 0.80-4.74). No association with STS risk was observed for menstrual cycle pattern, age at menopause, parity, and abortions. Late age at first pregnancy and birth were found to be related to an increased risk of STS, with an OR of 3.16 (95% CI, 0. 96-10.44) and 2.79 (95%% CI, 0.79-9.90) for women aged >/= 30 years at first pregnancy and birth compared with those aged < 20 years. The trend in risk was significant for age at first pregnancy. No relation with the risk of STS emerged for age at last birth and time since first or last birth. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of STS was found to be weakly related to late age at first pregnancy or birth, but not to other menstrual and reproductive factors.
Oral contraception was introduced 40 years ago. In the Netherlands 'the pill' was more widely accepted than in most other countries. Oral contraception turned family planning into a medical responsibility, which made it respectable. It also separated sexuality from reproduction, which had rather far-reaching consequences for sexual behaviour and experience, as well as for sexual morality. The most important immediate impact of the pill was a sudden acceleration of the downward trend of the birth rate, and a substantial reduction in the number of unwanted pregnancies and so-called forced marriages. Its impact on world population growth has been less marked, mainly because of its costs, as on a global level sterilization and intrauterine devices are more important methods of contraception. The number of abortions in the Netherlands (5-6.5/1000 fertile women/year) has not decreased, but the current possibilities for family planning have led to a change in motivation from 'utterly unwanted pregnancy' to 'unintended pregnancy'.
The immunological mechanisms that regulate abortion are largely unknown. Here, we found that a distinct subset of lymphocytes, Valpha14 NKT cells expressing an invariant antigen receptor encoded by Valpha14/Jalpha281 and Vbeta7 segments, accumulated in the decidua during pregnancy and provoked abortion upon stimulation with alpha-galactosylceramide (alpha-GalCer), a specific ligand for Valpha14 NKT cells. The alpha-GalCer-mediated abortion was not observed in Valpha14 NKT-, IFN-gamma-, tumor necrosis factor alpha-, or perforin-knock-out mice and appeared to be due to the degeneration of embryonic trophoblasts mediated by the activated Valpha14 NKT cells whose perforin-dependent killing and production of IFN-gamma and tumor necrosis factor alpha were essential. The possible role of the decidual Valpha14 NKT cells in the pathogenesis of abortion is discussed.