Bacterial Vaginosis and Prospective Ultrasound Measures of Uterine Fibroid Incidence and Growth.

Background: Uterine fibroids often cause intolerable symptoms leading to invasive treatments, most commonly hysterectomy. Reproductive tract infections are hypothesized to influence uterine fibroid development, but few studies exist, especially for the highly prevalent condition bacterial vaginosis (BV). Both fibroids and BV have documented racial-ethnic disparities, with higher burden in Blacks.

Utilization Pattern for Eculizumab Among Children With Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome.

Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is a complex disease with multi-organ involvement. Eculizumab therapy is recommended for treatment of complement mediated hemolytic uremic syndrome (cHUS). However, there are few studies evaluating eculizumab therapy among children with HUS.

The association between douching, genital talc use, and the risk of prevalent and incident cervical cancer.

While human papillomavirus is the primary cause of cervical cancer, other factors may influence susceptibility and response to the virus. Candidates include douching and talcum powder applied in the genital area. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate confounder-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) in the Sister Study (2003-2009), a US cohort of women aged 35-74.

Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Seroprevalence and Incidence and Growth of Ultrasound-Diagnosed Uterine Fibroids in a Large Population of Young African-American Women.

Reproductive tract infections have long been hypothesized to be risk factors for development of uterine fibroids, but few studies have investigated the issue. In our 2016 cross-sectional analysis from the Study of Environment, Lifestyle and Fibroids (2010-2018), a large Detroit, Michigan, community-based cohort study of 23- to 35-year-old African-American women with ultrasound fibroid screening, we found no association between a very prevalent reproductive tract infection, herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), and fibroids. With prospective data from the cohort (ultrasounds performed every 20 months over 5 years), we examined HSV-2's associations with fibroid incidence (among 1,208 women who were fibroid-free at baseline) and growth (among women with fibroids at baseline or diagnosed during the study).

Bacterial Vaginosis-Associated Bacteria and Uterine Fibroids: A Nested Case-Control Study.

Background: Reproductive tract infections are hypothesized to influence uterine fibroid development, yet few studies have investigated the common condition of bacterial vaginosis (BV). The literature is currently limited to data using self-report of BV.

Methods: We conducted a nested case-control study of 200 women (100 cases and 100 controls) from a large study of 23- to 35-year-old African American women, 1310 of whom were fibroid-free and prospectively followed up for 5 years to identify incident fibroids with standardized ultrasound examinations.

Douching or Perineal Talc Use and Prevalent Fibroids in Young African American Women.

Black women are at an increased risk of developing fibroids, but the cause is unclear. Douching and perineal talc use are common lifestyle exposures among Black women, and may be risk factors for fibroid development. This cross-sectional study consisted of Black women 23-35 years of age in the metropolitan Detroit area ( = 1693) without prior diagnoses of fibroids and intact uteri.

Mycoplasma genitalium and Bacterial Vaginosis-Associated Bacteria in a Non-Clinic-Based Sample of African American Women.

Background: Mycoplasma genitalium is associated with adverse reproductive problems. However, prevalence estimates from studies that screen women not seeking care are rare. Studies have reported co-occurrence of M.

Disparities by Skin Color Among Young African-American Women.

Objective: Light-skin disadvantage (hypothesized to result from resentment by darker-skinned individuals) has been described in majority African-American populations but is less studied than dark-skin disadvantage. We investigated both light- and dark-skin disadvantage in a contemporary African-American study population.

Methods: We used skin reflectance and questionnaire data from 1693, young African-American women in Detroit, Michigan, and dichotomized outcomes as advantaged/disadvantaged.

Accuracy of Self-reported Abnormal Pap Smears Among Reproductive-age African-American Women.

Background: Self-reported history of abnormal Pap smear is used in large public health surveys. However, literature on the accuracy of this reporting is limited. We sought to assess the validity of self-reported abnormal Pap history in a community-based sample of African-American women 24-37 years of age in the Detroit, MI, recruited from 2010 to 2012.

Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D and Risk of Self-Reported Bacterial Vaginosis in a Prospective Cohort Study of Young African American Women.

Background: Bacterial vaginosis (BV), the leading cause of vaginal discharge, is associated with multiple adverse health outcomes; however, its etiology is unknown. BV treatment is not very effective, thus prevention approaches are needed. Studies investigating the impact of vitamin D on the risk of BV have had mixed findings, including two studies reporting increased risk of recurrent BV for women with higher vitamin D.

Chlamydia trachomatis Seroprevalence and Ultrasound-Diagnosed Uterine Fibroids in a Large Population of Young African-American Women.

Reproductive tract infections have long been hypothesized to increase the risk of uterine fibroids. Few studies have been conducted, even for the common infection genital Chlamydia trachomatis (gCT), and only with self-reported gCT data. Our investigation used micro-immunofluorescence serology for gCT to characterize past exposure.

Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Seroprevalence and Ultrasound-Diagnosed Uterine Fibroids in a Large Population of Young African-American Women.

For decades reproductive tract infections (RTIs) have been hypothesized to play a role in uterine fibroid development. The few previous studies conducted used self-reported history of RTIs and had inconsistent findings. We investigated this hypothesis further using serological analysis, an immunological measure of past exposure.

A Prospective, Ultrasound-Based Study to Evaluate Risk Factors for Uterine Fibroid Incidence and Growth: Methods and Results of Recruitment.

Background: Uterine fibroids are common, benign, smooth-muscle tumors that can cause major morbidity for reproductive-age women, often requiring invasive treatment. Despite this personal and public health burden, no prior study has attempted to periodically screen fibroid-free women with ultrasound to detect incident disease and identify risk factors.

Methods: We designed a study to prospectively investigate development of fibroids by enrolling women without a clinical diagnosis of fibroids and screening for fibroids with ultrasound at baseline.

Self-Reported Reproductive Tract Infections and Ultrasound Diagnosed Uterine Fibroids in African-American Women.

Background: For decades, it has been hypothesized that reproductive tract infections (RTIs) are risk factors for uterine fibroids. However, only two recent studies have been conducted. We aimed to investigate the relationship between RTIs and fibroids in a large study using ultrasound screening for fibroids.

Cervical neoplasia-related factors and decreased prevalence of uterine fibroids among a cohort of African American women.

Objective: To investigate whether the previously reported inverse association between cervical neoplasia and uterine fibroids is corroborated.

Design: Cross-sectional analysis of enrollment data from an ongoing prospective study of fibroid development.

Setting: Not applicable.

Recent trends in the prevalence of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis in a commercially insured US population.

Purpose: Most US inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) epidemiology studies conducted to date have sampled small, geographically restricted populations and have not examined time trends. The aim of our study was to determine the prevalence of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) in a commercially insured US population and compare prevalences across sociodemographic characteristics and time.

Methods: Using claims data from approximately 12 million Americans, we performed three consecutive 2-year cross-sectional studies.