Pelvic congestion syndrome: Not all pelvic pain is gynaecological.

Background: Chronic pelvic pain is a debilitating but common syndrome that is a burden both for patients and health systems. Pelvic congestion syndrome (PCS) contributes to 30-40% of patients presenting with chronic pelvic pain where no other cause is identified. However, PCS is poorly understood, underdiagnosed and undertreated, with the average time to diagnosis being reported as up to four years after initial presentation.

Blood cadmium level as affected by hypertension, smoking, occupation, and body mass.

Cadmium can induce persistent hypertension in rats, yet, studies involving humans have been limited by the lack of controlling for confounding variables. The purpose of this study was to determine which lifestyle, health, and other factors are significantly related to predicting blood cadmium level. Thirty-two black female hypertensives 50-75 years of age were selected for comparison with 30 normotensives.

Lifestyle/environmental factors and blood cadmium levels in hypertensive and normotensive individuals.

Cadmium is a non-essential trace metal presently found at environmental concentration far exceeding its natural occurrence, to which human populations are exposed form diverse sources. Animals exposed chronically to subtoxic cadmium levels develop hypertension, yet human studies are inconclusive. In the present study, the relationship between lifestyle/environment factors and blood cadmium levels was investigated.