Purpose: This study examined the effects of partner relationships, fear of breast cancer recurrence (FBCR), decision conflict (DC), and fertility concerns (FC) on distress in planned motherhood (DPM) among women of reproductive age with breast cancer (WRABC).
Methods: A cross-sectional design was employed to recruit 100 WRABC aged 20-49 years, menstruating, newly diagnosed, and undergoing gonadotoxic therapies, from a medical center in southern Taiwan. Participants with multiple malignancies, chronic diseases, mental disorders, or infertility were excluded.
Pregnancy and childbirth introduce significant physical and psychological changes, often resulting in discomforts such as back pain, pelvic pain, and post-delivery recovery challenges. Physical therapy is known to be an effective intervention, yet there is limited understanding of how women perceive and utilize it during pregnancy and the postpartum period. This study aimed to explore women's experiences and perspectives of physical therapy during pregnancy and after childbirth.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Preeclampsia (PE) is a serious condition characterized by hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks of gestation. The exact cause of PE is unknown but may involve abnormalities in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). Genetic variations in angiotensinogen (AGT), angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), and eNOS genes have been associated with PE.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Infertility and the economic burden of treatment can impose considerable psychosocial stress with negative consequences for the quality of life for all involved. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of government subsidies for infertility treatment on the quality of life among infertile women undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer.
Methods: Infertile women undergoing in intro fertilization-embryo transfer were recruited from the Assisted Reproductive Technology Center at National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Taiwan, between 2019 and 2022.
Taiwan J Obstet Gynecol
November 2024
Reprod Biomed Online
October 2024
Research Question: Does very advanced maternal age (VAMA; age ≥45 years) influence obstetric outcomes among women using donor oocytes in IVF?
Design: This retrospective cohort study analysed data from a nationwide IVF registry in Taiwan, focusing on IVF cycles involving women aged 45 years and older using donated oocytes between 2007 and 2016. The study assessed cumulative live birth rates (CLBR) and secondary outcomes such as clinical pregnancy, miscarriage, live birth and twin pregnancy rates, alongside perinatal outcomes such as Caesarean section rates, pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes and birthweight.
Results: The study included 1226 embryo transfer cycles from 745 women, with a stable live birth rate of about 40% across the study period.
Introduction: The influence of pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain (PPGP) on lumbopelvic muscles has not been comprehensively examined in postpartum individuals. Previous research also presented self-reported activity limitations without objective measures.
Methods: Thirty postpartum individuals with PPGP (PPGP group) and 30 age-, parity-, and postpartum duration-matched asymptomatic individuals (healthy group) were recruited.
Objectives: Investigate effects of integrated training for pelvic floor muscles (PFM) with and without transabdominal ultrasonography (TAUS) imaging-guided biofeedback in postpartum women with pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain (PPGP).
Design: Three-arm, single-blinded randomized controlled trial SETTING: University laboratory PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-three postpartum women with PPGP randomized into stabilization exercise with TAUS-guided biofeedback (BIO+EXE), exercise (EXE), and control (CON) groups.
Interventions: The BIO+EXE and EXE groups underwent an 8-week exercise program, with the BIO+EXE group receiving additional TAUS-guided biofeedback for PFM training during the first 4 weeks.
Background: Endometriosis is a common gynecological disease affecting women of reproductive age. Patients with endometriosis frequently experience severe chronic pain and have higher chances to experience infertility. Progesterone resistance is a major problem that develops during the medical treatment of endometriosis, which often leads to treatment failure of hormonal therapies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol
August 2024
Objectives: Thin endometrium (TE) compromises endometrial receptivity, often leading to implantation failure and lower clinical pregnancy rates. As autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) emerges as a potential remedy, the present study focused on its therapeutic effects on TE in infertile women who underwent frozen embryo transfer.
Study Design: Patients with TE who underwent frozen embryo transfer treatment in our hospital were included.
BMC Pregnancy Childbirth
November 2023
Background: Therapeutic ultrasound, education, and massage are the most common physical therapy interventions provided to mothers with breast symptoms. However, there is insufficient evidence on the effectiveness of the combination of these interventions. This study aimed to explore the effects of the combination of therapeutic ultrasound, education, and massage on breast symptoms in lactating women.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEndometriosis should be diagnosed as early as possible in the continuum of care; but substantial delays of approximately 6-8 years between symptom onset and endometriosis diagnosis have been widely reported. With the purpose of improving the prompt diagnosis of endometriosis, the Asia-Pacific Endometriosis Expert Panel (APEX) sought to address the reasons for diagnostic delays across the region, and formulate a multi-pronged approach to overcoming these challenges. In the first instance, clinical diagnosis is preferable to surgical diagnosis, in order to facilitate earlier empirical treatment and minimize the negative sequelae of undiagnosed/untreated disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecent work by Muraoka and colleagues reports that the Gram-negative anaerobic bacterium Fusobacterium nucleatum is detected in the uterus of 64% of women with endometriosis. Fusobacterium infection causes macrophage infiltration, transforming growth factor-β production, and transgelin upregulation in human and mouse endometria as well as endometriotic lesion development in a mouse model of endometriosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdenomyosis is a complex issue in reproductive-age women not only on worsening of quality of life due to severe dysmenorrhea or heavy menstrual bleeding but also on the impact of infertility. A 39-year-old female, gravida 0 para 0, with a history of bilateral ovarian endometrioma post laparoscopic surgery presented to our hospital due to suspected deep infiltrative endometriosis (DIE), adenomyosis, and repeated implantation failure. Initially, gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog treatment for DIE with progestin-primed ovarian stimulation protocol was arranged.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: This study aimed to assess the effect of atosiban on in vitro fertilization (IVF) pregnancy outcome among women with both endometriosis and adenomyosis, and compared it to that of patients with endometriosis but without adenomyosis and that of patients with tubal factor only.
Materials And Methods: 106 infertile women (176 embryo transfers) from a medical center in Taiwan were included in the analysis, where 34 (54), 34 (66), and 38 (56) cases (embryo transfers) were endometriosis without adenomyosis, endometriosis with adenomyosis, and tubal infertility factor only, respectively. Adenomyosis morphologies were classified using an ultrasound-based classification system.
Study Question: Does YAP1 inhibition alleviate progesterone resistance in endometriosis?
Summary Answer: YAP1 inhibition reduces progesterone resistance in vitro and in vivo.
What Is Known Already: Progesterone resistance not only causes treatment failure for endometriosis but also inhibits eutopic endometrial cell proliferation, dysregulates decidualization, and reduces the success rates of pregnancy. Hippo/yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1) signaling pathway plays an important role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis.
Preeclampsia (PE) occurs in women pregnant for more than 20 weeks with de novo hypertension and proteinuria, and is a devastating disease in maternal-fetal medicine. Cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α may play a key role in the pathogenesis of PE. We conducted this study to investigate the regulatory regions of the TNF genes, by investigating two promoter polymorphisms, TNFA-308G/A (rs1800629) and -238G/A (rs361525), known to influence TNF expression, and their relationship to PE.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To explore demographic and clinical factors associated with utilization of antepartum/postpartum physical therapy.
Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a cross-sectional survey of 298 women who were receiving or had received obstetric care at a medical center in southern Taiwan. Data were collected between May 2021 and May 2022 using an online questionnaire, which included demographic, medical, and obstetric details, the symptom severity questionnaires, management strategies, and experience and perception about physical therapy.
This study aimed to assess (1) the reproducibility of three sperm chromatin dispersion (SCD) assays for sperm DNA fragmentation, i.e., LensHooke R10 (R10), Halosperm G2 (G2), and BASO (BA); (2) the correlation between computer-assisted semen analyzer (CASA) morphokinematic parameters and sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI), and (3) the diagnostic value for male reproduction by combining semen morphokinematic parameters and DFI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Pregnancy Childbirth
March 2022
Background: Little is known about the physical therapists' practice and perceptions toward management of pregnancy/postpartum-related disorders in Taiwan. The aim of this study was to document current practice of physical therapy in antepartum and postpartum care in Taiwan.
Methods: An exploratory, cross-sectional study was conducted in registered physical therapists living in Taiwan.
This retrospective study assessed the effect of the co-administration of clomiphene citrate (CC) and letrozole in mild ovarian stimulation, compared to conventional regimens, among Patient-Oriented Strategies Encompassing Individualized Oocyte Number (POSEIDON) Group 4 patients. There were 114 POSEIDON Group 4 patients undergoing fertilization treatments with 216 stimulation cycles recruited from a Taiwan's reproductive center during 2016-2020. Main outcomes were the numbers, quality of retrieved oocytes and embryo development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFibrinogen-like 1 (FGL1) is involved in liver injury and liver regeneration, but its role in placenta and preeclampsia (PE) remains unclear. We assessed FGL1 expression in serum and placenta from L-NAME-induced PE-like mouse and in women with ( = 38) and without ( = 42) PE. For the mouse study, pregnant C57Bl/6 mouse ( = 6/group) were subcutaneously administered L-NAME with or without FGL1 once daily starting on days 7-14 of pregnancy and were sacrificed on gestational day (GD) 20.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy is a noninvasive alternative to conventional abdominal surgery in obstetrics and gynecology. The aim of this study is to evaluate the reduction of pain intensity with bowel manipulation before ultrasound-guided HIFU treatment in women with posterior wall uterine fibroids and/or adenomyosis.
Materials And Methods: This is a multicenter retrospective observational study.
Osteoarthritis (OA) and osteoporosis (OP) are common among older women, especially postmenopausal women. Glucosamine (GlcN) is a common medication for OA, but it may induce insulin resistance and β-cell dysfunction, especially if ovarian hormones are lacking. Raloxifene (RLX) is a selective estrogen receptor modulator and also an OP drug.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF