The Association of Inflammation with Premenstrual Symptoms.

Background: About 80% of women experience premenstrual symptoms (PMSx), and about 50% of women seek medical care for them, posing a large medical care burden. However, despite women's use of anti-inflammatory agents for relief from these symptoms, and the fact that anti-inflammatory agents provide relief from some PMSx, the relationship of inflammation to PMSx has not been well investigated.

Methods: We, therefore, undertook the present cross-sectional analyses using baseline data from the longitudinal Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN), a racially/ethnically diverse cohort of midlife women (n = 2939), to determine if a biomarker of inflammation, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), was associated with PMSx.

Thyroid hormones and thyroid disease in relation to perchlorate dose and residence near a superfund site.

Perchlorate is a widely occurring contaminant, which can competitively inhibit iodide uptake and thus thyroid hormone production. The health effects of chronic low dose perchlorate exposure are largely unknown. In a community-based study, we compared thyroid function and disease in women with differing likelihoods of prior and current perchlorate exposure.

Evaluation of the association of menopausal status with delta and beta EEG activity during sleep.

Study Objectives: Women report increasing sleep difficulties during menopause, but polysomnographic measures do not detect sleep disturbances. We examined whether two spectral analysis sleep measures, delta and beta power, were related to menopausal status.

Design: The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN) Sleep Study compared cross-sectionally spectral sleep measures in women in different stages of menopause.

Diet and lifestyle factors associated with premenstrual symptoms in a racially diverse community sample: Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN).

Aims: We sought to determine if the frequency of reported physical or emotional premenstrual symptoms (PMSx) was associated with (1) dietary intake of phytoestrogens, fiber, fat, or calcium, (2) consumption of alcohol or caffeine, (3) active or passive smoke exposure or lack of physical exercise, and (4) race/ethnicity or socioeconomic status.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted of PMSx and demographic and lifestyle factors reported at baseline in the multiethnic sample of 3302 midlife women in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN). Stepwise multiple logistic regression analyses were performed for the overall sample and for each racial/ethnic group for each of five PMSx groupings.