Reproductive and menstrual factors and colorectal cancer incidence in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study.

Background: Reproductive and menstrual factors have been evaluated as surrogates for long-term hormonal exposures in several prospective studies of colorectal cancer, yet findings have been conflicting.

Methods: The relation of reproductive and menstrual factors (self-reported via a reproductive history questionnaire) with incident colorectal cancer was investigated among women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study (WHI-OS), a longitudinal cohort of 93 676 postmenopausal women (aged 50-79 years at enrolment) in which 1149 incident cases of colorectal cancer occurred over a median follow-up of 11.9 years.

A Randomized Trial of a Low-Fat Diet Intervention on Blood Pressure and Hypertension: Tertiary Analysis of the WHI Dietary Modification Trial.

Background: This post hoc analysis determined if the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Diet Modification intervention (DM-I) resulted in a significantly different rate of incident hypertension (HTN), as well as longitudinal changes in blood pressure.

Methods: Participants were 48,835 postmenopausal women aged 50-79 years who were randomly assigned to either the intervention or comparison group. HTN was defined as self-report of treated HTN collected semiannually or blood pressure ≥140/90mm Hg at one of the annual follow-up clinic visits.

Hormone Use, Reproductive History, and Risk of Lung Cancer: The Women's Health Initiative Studies.

Introduction: Results from the Women's Health Initiative clinical trials demonstrated no increase in the risk of lung cancer in postmenopausal women treated with hormone therapy (HT). We conducted a joint analysis of the Women's Health Initiative observational study data and clinical trials data to further explore the association between estrogen and estrogen-related reproductive factors and lung cancer risk.

Methods: Reproductive history, oral contraceptive use, and postmenopausal HT were evaluated in 160,855 women with known HT exposures.

Oral bisphosphonate use and risk of postmenopausal endometrial cancer.

Purpose: Bisphosphonates are common medications used for the treatment of osteoporosis and are also used to reduce metastases to bone in patients with cancer. Several studies, including the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), have found that use of bisphosphonates is associated with reduced risk of developing breast cancer, but less is known about associations with other common malignancies. This study was aimed at examining the effects of bisphosphonates on the risk of endometrial cancer.

Associations of menopausal vasomotor symptoms with fracture incidence.

Context: Vasomotor symptoms (VMS) are common. Whether VMS are associated with fracture incidence or bone mineral density (BMD) levels is unknown.

Objective: This study aimed to examine associations of baseline VMS with fracture incidence and BMD.

Umbilical cord serum interleukin-6, C-reactive protein, and myeloperoxidase concentrations at birth and association with neonatal morbidities and long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Objective: The aim of the study is to determine if umbilical cord serum concentrations of interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), and myeloperoxidase (MPO), in pregnancies at risk for preterm birth (PTB), are associated with neonatal morbidities and/or altered neurodevelopmental outcomes in the children.

Study Design: Umbilical cord serum samples were collected at birth from 400 newborns delivered within a multicenter randomized controlled trial of repeated versus single course of antenatal corticosteroids (ACs), in women at increased risk for PTB. Newborns were followed through discharge and were evaluated between 36 and 42 months corrected age with neurological examination and Bayley Scales of Infant Development.

Calcium plus vitamin D supplementation and health outcomes five years after active intervention ended: the Women's Health Initiative.

Background: Clinical outcomes of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) calcium plus vitamin D supplementation trial have been reported during 7.0 years of active intervention. We now report outcomes 4.

Menopausal hormone therapy and health outcomes during the intervention and extended poststopping phases of the Women's Health Initiative randomized trials.

Importance: Menopausal hormone therapy continues in clinical use but questions remain regarding its risks and benefits for chronic disease prevention.

Objective: To report a comprehensive, integrated overview of findings from the 2 Women's Health Initiative (WHI) hormone therapy trials with extended postintervention follow-up.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A total of 27,347 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79 years were enrolled at 40 US centers.

Age at menopause, reproductive history, and venous thromboembolism risk among postmenopausal women: the Women's Health Initiative Hormone Therapy clinical trials.

Objective: This study aims to investigate venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk in relation to age at menopause, age at menarche, parity, bilateral oophorectomy, and time since menopause, as well as any interaction with randomized hormone therapy (HT) assignment, among postmenopausal women.

Methods: Using pooled data from the Women's Health Initiative HT clinical trials including 27,035 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79 years who had no history of VTE, we assessed the risk of VTE in relation to age at menopause, age at menarche, parity, bilateral oophorectomy, and time since menopause by Cox proportional hazards models. Linear trends, quadratic relationships, and interactions of reproductive life characteristics with HT on VTE risk were systematically tested.

Frequency of private spiritual activity and cardiovascular risk in postmenopausal women: the Women's Health Initiative.

Purpose: Spirituality has been associated with better cardiac autonomic balance, but its association with cardiovascular risk is not well studied. We examined whether more frequent private spiritual activity was associated with reduced cardiovascular risk in postmenopausal women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study.

Methods: Frequency of private spiritual activity (prayer, Bible reading, and meditation) was self-reported at year 5 of follow-up.

Gene-environment interactions and obesity traits among postmenopausal African-American and Hispanic women in the Women's Health Initiative SHARe Study.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of obesity measures have identified associations with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). However, no large-scale evaluation of gene-environment interactions has been performed. We conducted a search of gene-environment (G × E) interactions in post-menopausal African-American and Hispanic women from the Women's Health Initiative SNP Health Association Resource GWAS study.

Placental villous hypermaturation is associated with idiopathic preterm birth.

Objective: Pregnancy complications such as intra-amniotic infection, preeclampsia, and fetal intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) account for most cases of preterm birth (PTB), but many spontaneous PTB cases do not have a clear etiology. We hypothesize that placental insufficiency may be a potential cause of idiopathic PTB.

Methods: Secondary analysis of 82 placental samples from women with PTB obtained from a multicenter trial of repeat versus single antenatal corticosteroids.

Migraine history, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use, and risk of postmenopausal endometrial cancer.

Endometrial cancer is primarily a hormonally mediated disease. As such, factors that mediate or reflect exposure to estrogens, or that mediate response to such exposure, may plausibly be associated with endometrial cancer risk. History of migraines, another hormonally mediated condition, has recently been associated with a reduced risk of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer; however, the relationship between migraines and endometrial cancer has not previously been explored.

Risk factors for prolapse development in white, black, and Hispanic women.

Objectives: : This study aimed to examine the risk factors for prevalence and incidence of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) in whites, Hispanics, and blacks.

Methods: : This is a secondary analysis of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Estrogen plus Progestin Clinical Trial (E + P). Of the original E + P trial population of 16,608, 12,667 women (78.

Impact of nutritional factors on incident kidney stone formation: a report from the WHI OS.

Purpose: Increased fluid intake, and decreased dietary sodium and animal protein intake are thought to reduce the risk of kidney stones but the role of calcium intake is controversial. We evaluated the relationship between dietary factors and incident kidney stone formation.

Materials And Methods: Secondary analysis was done of 78,293 women from the prospective WHI OS (Women's Health Initiative Observational Study) with no history of nephrolithiasis who completed the validated food frequency questionnaire.

Racial differences in colorectal cancer incidence and mortality in the Women's Health Initiative.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality rates are higher in African-Americans as compared with other racial/ethnic groups. The women's health initiative (WHI) study sample was used to determine whether differences in CRC risk factors explain racial/ethnic differences in incidence and mortality.

Methods: The WHI is a longitudinal study of postmenopausal women recruited from 40 centers.

Urinary tract stone occurrence in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) randomized clinical trial of calcium and vitamin D supplements.

Background: The Women's Health Initiative (WHI) randomized clinical trial (RCT) of calcium plus vitamin D (CaD) supplements found a 17% excess in urinary tract stone incidence in the supplemented group. This study evaluated whether this risk is modified by participant characteristics.

Objective: We examined the correlates of urinary tract stone occurrence in the CaD arm of the WHI trial.

Oophorectomy vs ovarian conservation with hysterectomy: cardiovascular disease, hip fracture, and cancer in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study.

Background: Elective bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO) is routinely performed with hysterectomy for benign conditions despite conflicting data on long-term outcomes.

Methods: This is a prospective cohort of 25 448 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79 years enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study who had a history of hysterectomy and BSO (n = 14 254 [56.0%]) or hysterectomy with ovarian conservation (n = 11 194 [44.

Effect of antibiotic exposure on Nugent score among pregnant women with and without bacterial vaginosis.

Objective: To evaluate whether vaginal flora is altered by antibiotic exposure and associated with a risk of preterm birth, particularly among women with initially normal vaginal flora.

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of a randomized trial of metronidazole and erythromycin for the prevention of preterm birth among women with a positive fetal fibronectin test. Vaginal swabs for Nugent Gram stain score were collected for classification of bacterial vaginosis before and after antibiotic exposure and read at a central laboratory.

Vasomotor symptoms and cardiovascular events in postmenopausal women.

Objective: Emerging evidence suggests that women with menopausal vasomotor symptoms (VMS) have increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk as measured by surrogate markers. We investigated the relationships between VMS and clinical CVD events and all-cause mortality in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study (WHI-OS).

Methods: We compared the risk of incident CVD events and all-cause mortality between four groups of women (total N = 60,027): (1) no VMS at menopause onset and no VMS at WHI-OS enrollment (no VMS [referent group]), (2) VMS at menopause onset but not at WHI-OS enrollment (early VMS), (3) VMS at both menopause onset and WHI-OS enrollment (persistent VMS [early and late]), and (4) VMS at WHI-OS enrollment but not at menopause onset (late VMS).

Religion and healthy lifestyle behaviors among postmenopausal women: the women's health initiative.

Worship attendance has been associated with longer survival in prospective cohort studies. A possible explanation is that religious involvement may promote healthier lifestyle choices. Therefore, we examined whether attendance is associated with healthy behaviors, i.

25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration, vitamin D intake and joint symptoms in postmenopausal women.

Introduction: Low 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH) D) concentrations have been associated with radiologic worsening of osteoarthritis in some reports. However, the results are mixed and few studies have evaluated associations between 25(OH) D concentrations and both total vitamin D intake and clinical joint symptoms.

Study Design: Cross-sectional analyses of information from a subset of 1993 postmenopausal women obtained at baseline entry in the Women's Health Initiative Calcium plus Vitamin D clinical trial.

Various viral compartments in HIV-1-infected mothers contribute to in utero transmission of HIV-1.

Perinatal HIV transmission occurs in utero or intrapartum. The mechanisms and timing of transmission are not clearly understood. To compare the genetic sequences of the V3 envelope region of infant's plasma HIV to that of the mother's plasma, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and vaginal secretions, and correlate with timing of transmission.

Alcohol consumption and risk of postmenopausal breast cancer by subtype: the women's health initiative observational study.

Background: Alcohol consumption is a well-established risk factor for breast cancer. This association is thought to be largely hormonally driven, so alcohol use may be more strongly associated with hormonally sensitive breast cancers. Few studies have evaluated how alcohol-related risk varies by breast cancer subtype.

Lung cancer among postmenopausal women treated with estrogen alone in the women's health initiative randomized trial.

Background: In the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) randomized controlled trial, use of estrogen plus progestin increased lung cancer mortality. We conducted post hoc analyses in the WHI trial evaluating estrogen alone to determine whether use of conjugated equine estrogen without progestin had a similar adverse influence on lung cancer.

Methods: The WHI study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial conducted in 40 centers in the United States.