More than just joy: A qualitative analysis of participant experiences during nitrous oxide sedation.

Background: Nitrous oxide use is shifting from general anesthesia to sedation and pain control. Interest in novel uses of nitrous oxide in psychiatry is also growing. Thus, understanding the consequences of using nitrous oxide remains relevant.

Carotid artery elasticity decreases during pregnancy - the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study.

Background: The aims were to evaluate the effect of pregnancy on carotid artery elasticity and determine the associations between maternal lipids, endothelial function and arterial elasticity during pregnancy.

Methods: We examined 99 pregnant and 99 matched non-pregnant control women as part of a population-based prospective cohort study. Carotid artery elasticity indexes; carotid artery distensibility (CAD), Young's elastic modulus (YEM) and stiffness index (SI) as well as brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) were assessed using ultrasound; serum lipid levels were also determined.

Ambulatory arterial stiffness index and nocturnal blood pressure dipping in pregnancies complicated by hypertension.

Background: The study sets out to examine differences in arterial stiffness and nocturnal blood pressure dipping as outcomes in women with gestational hypertension compared with healthy pregnant women during pregnancy and 3 months after delivery.

Methods And Results: We prospectively studied a cohort of 60 women during the third trimester of pregnancy; of them, 28 suffered pregnancy-induced hypertension or pre-eclampsia and 32 had uncomplicated singleton pregnancies. Subsequently, 42 of these were re-examined 3 months after delivery.

Need for insulin to control gestational diabetes is reflected in the ambulatory arterial stiffness index.

Background: The aim was to evaluate the metabolic profile in conjunction with vascular function using the ambulatory arterial stiffness index (AASI) in women with uncomplicated pregnancies and in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

Methods: Plasma glucose, lipids, HOMA -IR (homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance) and AASI, as obtained from 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in third trimester pregnancy and at three months postpartum, were measured in three groups of women: controls (N=32), women with GDM on diet (N=42) and women with GDM requiring insulin treatment (N=10).

Results: Women with GDM had poorer glycemic control and higher HOMA-IR during and after pregnancy and their total and LDL (low density lipoprotein) cholesterol levels were significantly higher after pregnancy than in the controls.