Olavi Ylikorkala

• PhD, MD,Professor
• Prosessor at Helsinki University Central Hospital

Context Women with a history of pre-eclamptic pregnancy are predisposed to later occlusive vascular diseases. Objective We compared the use of cyclic progestins or levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine device (LNG-IUD) for treatment of menstrual cycle abnormalities between premenopausal women with and without a prior pre-eclamptic pregnancy. Sett...

We summarize convincing evidence that future cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk increases one-fold to four-fold for women with a history of pregnancy complicated by hypertensive disorders, gestational diabetes, fetal growth restriction, placental abruption and preterm birth. A concomitant occurrence of two or more complications in the same pregnancy...

Objective: We compared the trends of hormone therapy (HT) use among women with and without a history of pre-eclampsia. Methods: This national cohort study consisted of women with a pre-eclamptic pregnancy (n = 31,688) or a normotensive pregnancy (n = 91,726) (controls) during 1969-1993. The data on their use of HT during 1994-2019 were traced fr...

Objectives To investigate the impact of pre-eclampsia on the future cardiovascular risk in Finnish women Design A registry-based nationwide controlled cohort study. Setting Women hospitalised for pre-eclampsia in 1969–1993 and control women with a history of normotensive pregnancies followed from the pre-eclampsia diagnosis until 2019 for cardiov...

Background: The association between use of menopausal hormone therapy and risk of cutaneous melanoma is highly debated. We investigated the issue in a Finnish nationwide cohort of women ages 50 years or older.Methods: All women who had purchased hormone therapy between 1994 and 2007 were identified from the national Medical Reimbursement Registry...

Objectives To compare the use of hormone therapy between Finnish postmenopausal women with and without a diagnosis for Alzheimer’s disease. Design Nationwide case-control study. Setting Finnish national population and drug register, between 1999 and 2013. Participants All postmenopausal women (n=84 739) in Finland who, between 1999 and 2013, rec...

Objective: Receptors for estrogen and progesterone are present in the pelvic floor, and therefore, postmenopausal hormone therapy may affect its function. We compared the former use of estradiol-progestogen postmenopausal hormone therapy in nonhysterectomized women with a uterine prolapse surgery (N = 12,072) and control women (N = 33,704). Metho...

Introduction and hypothesis: The impact of estradiol-based hormone therapy (HT) on the incidence of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is unknown. Therefore, we compared the use of such HT regimens and tibolone in women with and without SUI. Methods: The women with a history of SUI operation (N = 15,002) were identified from the Finnish National...

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the risk of cardiac and stroke deaths in women who discontinue postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT). Methods: We analyzed the risk of death due to cardiac (n = 5,204) and cerebrovascular (n = 3,434) causes in Finnish women who discontinued systemic HT during 1994 to 2013 (n = 432,775). The risks wer...

Objective: The aim of the study was to compare the effects of different hormone therapies on cardiac repolarization in recently postmenopausal women with and without hot flashes. Methods: We recruited 150 healthy women: 72 with and 78 without hot flashes. They were randomized and treated for 6 months with transdermal estradiol (1 mg/day), oral e...

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is still the most common killer of western women. Coronary arteries, expressing estrogen receptors, are a target for estrogen action. Prior to the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study, postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT) was widely advocated for primary prevention of CAD, but such use was criticized after the WHI publ...

Context: There are conflicting data on postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT) and the risk of vascular dementia (VD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Objective: We analyzed the mortality risk attributable to VD or AD in women with a history of HT use. Design, Patients, Interventions and Main Outcome Measures: A total of 489,105 Finnish women using sys...

Objectives: The role of postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT) in the incidence of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) has been studied extensively, but less is known of the impact of HT on the mortality risk due to an ACS. Study design and main outcome measures: We extracted from a population-based ACS register, FINAMI, 7258 postmenopausal women with th...

Objective: Data are controversial on the impact of postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT) on breast cancer mortality. We analyzed nationwide Finnish data on breast cancer mortality risk in women using HT consisting of estradiol-only therapy (ET) or estrogen-progestogen therapy (EPT). Methods: In total, 489,105 women using HT in 1994 to 2009, traced...

Context: The "window of opportunity hypothesis" refers to data indicating that conjugated equine estrogen alone or in combination with medroxyprogesterone acetate, if initiated before 60 years of age, protects the heart but endangers it if initiated later (Women's Health Initiative study). Less is known about the "window of opportunity hypothesis"...

Study question: Does the use of post-menopausal vaginal estradiol (VE) affect the mortality risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke. Summary answer: The use of VE reduces the risk for cardiovascular mortality. What is known already: A growing number of women use VE for post-menopausal genitourinary symptoms. Although this therapy is i...

Context: Current guidelines recommend annual discontinuation of postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT) to evaluate whether a woman could manage without the treatment. The impact of HT on cardiovascular health has been widely studied, but it is not known how withdrawal of HT affects cardiovascular risk. Objective: We evaluated the risk of cardiac or...

Data on the possible impact of postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT) on the incidence of rare primary fallopian tube carcinoma (PFTC) are scarce. Therefore, we conducted a nationwide case-control study analyzing the association between the use of different HTs and PFTC. All women aged 50 years or older with an incident PFTC (n= 360) during 1995-2007...

The Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study clarified the indications and contraindications for postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT). We studied the impact of the WHI results on the risk of fatal stroke in HT users in Finland. Retrospective analysis setting: Nationwide registers on postmenopausal HT use and causes of death between 1995 and 2009. Women...

Data on the health benefits and risks of postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT) are derived mainly from the use of conjugated equine estrogens. Estradiol-based regimens may have a different risk-benefit profile. We evaluated the risk of death caused by coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, or any disease among users of estradiol-based HT regimens in a...

Objective To study the possible association between menopausal hot flushes and bone mineral density.DesignObservational study.SettingUniversity clinic.PopulationHealthy women (n=143) with or without hot flushes and 6–36 months postmenopausal of participating in a six month hormone therapy trial.Methods The women prospectively recorded the number an...

To assess whether coronary heart disease mortality in Finnish hormone therapy (HT) users differed before and after 2002 when the Women's Health Initiative study was published. The risks of coronary heart disease death in HT users in relation to the age-matched background population were compared between the pre- (1995-2001) and post- (2002-2009) Wo...

Because premenstrual symptoms in fertile age resemble menopausal symptoms, many women with premenstrual symptoms fear that they have an increased risk for developing vasomotor symptoms in menopause. We investigated the impact of premenstrual symptoms on the occurrence and severity of menopausal vasomotor symptoms and quality of life. One hundred fi...

We assessed the impact of hot flashes and various forms of hormone therapy on health-related quality of life and sexual well-being in recently postmenopausal women. We prospectively interviewed 150 healthy women about hot flashes and health-related quality of life (using the Women's Health Questionnaire and the McCoy Female Sexuality Questionnaire)...

Postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT) associates with an increased risk of ovarian cancer, but its' influence on tumor histology is not as well known. Therefore, we evaluated the effect of various types of HT on the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer by histological subtype. All Finnish women diagnosed with ovarian cancer (n= 3,958) aged over 50 durin...

Objective Assessment of 12-month safety of ospemifene 60 mg/day for treatment of postmenopausal women with vulvar and vaginal atrophy (VVA). Methods In this 52-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study, women 40–80 years with VVA and an intact uterus were randomized 6 : 1 to ospemifene 60 mg/day or placebo. The prima...

Sex-related physiological differences result in different expressions of diseases for men and women. Data are contradicting regarding the increase in the female risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) at mid-life. Thus, we studied possible sex differences in age-adjusted mortality for CVD and non-vascular diseases stratifying our findings by specific...

Objective: Both smoking and the release of nitric oxide (NO) in the uterine cervix are determinants for high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) infection. We compared the cervical NO release between smoking and non-smoking women with and without hrHPV infection. Design: Open clinical cohort study. Setting: University Hospital in Finland. Popul...

Objective: To study perinatal mortality associated with placental abruption. Design: Retrospective population study using the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register and Medical Birth Register data. Setting: Finland, 1987-2005. Population: Pregnancies with placental abruption and all other births without placental abruption. Methods: The natio...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of postmenopausal estradiol-progestagen therapy (EPT) with the risk for precancerous lesions, squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix. All Finnish women who had used EPT in 1994-2008 for at least 6 months (n = 243,857) at the age of 50 years or more were identified from...

Recent data have indicated that menopausal hot flashes may be a determinant for cardiovascular health. Therefore, we studied the impact of hot flashes on insulin resistance, one of the most powerful markers of cardiovascular health, in recently postmenopausal women. We studied 143 recently postmenopausal (amenorrhea 6-36 mo) healthy and normal-weig...

Objective: While previous data link the use of postmenopausal hormone therapy to an increased risk for ovarian cancer, little is known about the impact of various progestins, modes or routes of administration of hormone therapy for this risk. In this nationwide study, we compared relations between different estradiol-progestin (EPT) formulations a...

Primary fallopian tube carcinoma (PFTC) is a rare malignancy and only sparse data exist on its possible association with postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT). We therefore studied this association in a nationwide cohort of Finnish HT users. All women> 50 years using systemic estradiol-only therapy (ET) (n=117,820 hysterectomized women) or estradiol-...

To compare the responses of heart rate and blood pressure to various autonomic tests in women with and without pre-treatment hot flushes during estradiol and estradiol+medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) use. STUDY DESIGN AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Hundred and fifty recently postmenopausal women (72 with and 78 without hot flushes) were randomized to...

Introduction: Levels of nitric oxide metabolites are elevated in the cervical fluid of women with high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV). To elucidate the origin of this elevation we studied the cervical expression and localization of endothelial and inducible nitric oxide synthases (eNOS, iNOS) in women. Material and methods: Expression of eNOS...

The authors conducted a nationwide cohort study to evaluate the association between postmenopausal hormone therapy and meningioma incidence in Finland. All women who had used hormone therapy at least for 6 months at the age of 50 years or older during 1994-2009 were included. Women who had used postmenopausal hormone therapy were identified from th...

To study a possible association between the potent vasodilatory nitric oxide and postmenopausal hot flushes. We compared the release of nitric oxide in 150 recently menopausal women reporting no (n = 23), mild (n = 34), moderate (n = 30), or severe (n = 63) hot flushes. Plasma samples, collected after a 48-h arginine-poor diet, were assessed for th...

The aim of the study was to compare the responses of heart rate variability (HRV) with hormone therapy in recently postmenopausal women with and without vasomotor hot flashes. Seventy-two women with and 78 women without hot flashes were randomized to receive transdermal estradiol gel (1 g/day), oral estradiol alone (2 mg/day), oral estradiol combin...

Nitric oxide may serve as one cofactor for human papillomavirus (HPV)-induced development of cervical cancer. Therefore, we first assessed the levels of cervical fluid nitric oxide metabolite (NOx) in 283 women with and without high-risk (hr) HPV. The NOx level in women with hr HPV (48.4 μmol/L [95% CI: 39.4-56.6], n = 199) was higher (p < 0.001) t...

To compare cervical fluid nitric oxide release in women with and without Chlamydia trachomatis and high-risk human papillomavirus infection (hrHPV). An open clinical study. University Hospital of Helsinki. Thirty-nine women with (n=21) and without C. trachomatis (n=18). Chlamydia trachomatis and/or hrHPV were studied by using specific RNA- and DNA-...

Hot flushes are complained of by approximately 75% of all postmenopausal women, and hormone therapy (HT) is the most effective way to alleviate them. Hot flushes are characterized by altered vascular function and sympathetic nervous system activity. Hot flushes occurred more often in women attending large, non-randomized observational studies (e.g....

Insufficient data exist on the effect of postmenopausal hormone therapy as the risk factor for uterine sarcomas. We therefore evaluated the association of estradiol-progestin therapy (EPT) with the risk of uterine sarcoma in nation-wide cohort study. All Finnish women (>50 years of age) who had used EPT during the years 1994-2008 for at least 6 mon...

This study evaluates the effect of different modes of estradiol-progestagen therapy (EPT) regimens on the postmenopausal endometrial cancer risk in Finland. Women diagnosed with endometrial cancer in 1995-2007 at the age of 50-80 years were identified from the Finnish Cancer Registry (N = 7,261). For each case, three age-matched controls were retri...

During menopausal transition autonomic balance is known to shift towards sympathetic dominance, but the role of vasomotor hot flushes in this phenomenon is not understood. We compared cardiovascular autonomic responsiveness between women with and without hot flushes. STUDY DESIGN AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: One hundred fifty recently postmenopausal...

Breast cancer is a heterogenous disease and hormonal factors are involved. Since national differences exist in the use of postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT) and other risk factors, associations between HT and breast cancer should be studied nationally. In Finland, estrogen-progestin therapy is associated with higher breast cancer risk than estroge...

smoking is an important risk factor for placental abruption with strong dose-dependency. Pregnant smokers often underreport tobacco use which can be objectively assessed by measuring serum cotinine levels. We examined the accuracy between self-reported smoking habits and early pregnancy serum cotinine levels in women with or without placental abrup...

Endometriosis-associated infertility is poorly treatable with various forms of surgery. Therefore, assisted reproduction techniques (ARTs), such as controlled ovarian hyperstimulation, intrauterine insemination, or in vitro fertilization, are commonly used for endometriosis-associated infertility. Endometriosis impairs the efficacy of in vitro fert...

We examined the associations between various doses and routes of administration of norethisterone acetate (NETA) in estrogen-progestagen therapy (EPT) and the risk of breast cancer in Finland. All Finnish women with first invasive breast cancer diagnosed between the ages of 50-62 during 1995-2007 (n = 9,956) were identified from the Finnish Cancer...

Blood pressure (BP) is one of the most powerful determinants of cardiovascular risk in women. This risk may differ between post-menopausal women with and without vasomotor hot flushes, possibly indicating different vascular responses to hormone therapy (HT). Thus, we compared in a clinical trial the effect of HT on ambulatory BP in normotensive, re...

Menopausal hot flushes may affect the responses of various vascular risk factors to hormone therapy (HT). We compared the responses of biochemical markers for cardiovascular diseases to HT in recently postmenopausal women with tolerable or intolerable hot flushes. Healthy, non-smoking freshly postmenopausal women (n = 150) with no previous HT use w...

Menopausal hot flushes may be a marker for a difference in vascular function. We studied the associations between hot flushes of varying severity and ambulatory blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR). A total of 147 women with onset of menopause within the preceding 6-36 months reported no hot flushes (n = 23) or mild (n = 33), moderate (n = 30),...

Placental abruption is an important cause of preterm birth, and perinatal morbidity and mortality. Although more common with male fetuses, outcomes have not been evaluated by sex. Our aim was to find out whether short-term morbidity differs by infant sex in cases with placental abruption and in controls. Register-based case-control study. National...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT) and the risk for breast cancer in recently postmenopausal Finnish women. All Finnish women with first invasive breast cancer diagnosed between the ages of 50 and 62 years during 1995-2007 (n = 9,956) were identified from the Finnish Cancer Registry...

To estimate the risk of endometrial cancer in all Finnish postmenopausal women using various forms of estradiol-progestin therapy. All Finnish women (aged more than 50 years) who had used estradiol-progestin therapy in 1994-2006 for at least 6 months (n=224,015) were identified from the national medical Reimbursement Registry and linked to the Finn...

The aim of this study was to investigate whether cardiovascular autonomic reactivity and risk profile are associated with the frequency and severity of hot flashes in recently postmenopausal women. A total of 150 postmenopausal women with varying degrees of severity of hot flashes (none, mild, moderate, or severe) underwent 24-hour electrocardiogra...

To compare the vascular responses to hormone therapy in women with and without hot flushes. We randomly assigned 143 healthy, recently postmenopausal women (mean age 52.4+/-0.2 years, time since menopause 19.5+/-0.9 months) with intolerable hot flushes (more than seven moderate/severe episodes per day) or tolerable hot flushes (fewer than three mil...

The antiangiogenic growth factor angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) antagonizes, whereas angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) activates the endothelial cell-specific tyrosine kinase receptor-2 (Tie-2). In preeclampsia, circulating concentrations of Ang-1 are increased and those of Ang-2 and Tie-2 are decreased. We wanted to study whether maternal serum concentrations of Ang...

OBJECTIVE. To study placental abruption-associated maternal deaths out of all maternal deaths in Finland. DESIGN. Register-based study. SETTING. The Finnish Medical Birth Register (MBR), the Hospital Discharge Register (HDR), and the Cause-of-Death Register data during 1972-2005. METHODS. The maternal deaths were identified by linking data from the...

To study the production of prostacyclin (PGI2) and thromboxane A2 (TxA2) in endometriosis in vitro, samples of endometriotic tissue taken during operation from 6 women were superfused for 4.5 hours in 95% 02/5% CO2 at 37°C and the stable metabolites of PGI2 (= 6-keto-PGF1α), and TxA2 (= TxB2) were measured by radioimmunoassays from the superfusates...

The effect of clomiphene citrate during sulpiride-induced hyperprolactinemia on pituitary function was tested in 8 healthy men, who ingested 100 mg of clomiphene, 150 mg of sulpiride or 100 mg of clomiphene +150 mg of sulpiride daily for 7 days. Clomiphene treatment increased FSH and LH plasma concentrations and this increase was unaffected by sulp...

Objective: In view of the data that high levels of antibodies to oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL), cardiolipin, and phosphatidyl serine are present in plasma of women with established preeclampsia, we studied whether the risk of preeclampsia could be predicted by these antibodies. Methods: In our prospective trial, blood samples were drawn fr...

Objective: To test the hypothesis that previous exposure to paternal antigens should protect against preeclampsia and pregnancy-induced hypertension, we compared the occurrence of these complications and intrauterine growth retardation in pregnancies in women who conceived using sperm from a donor (no previous exposure to fertilizing sperm) or from...

Objective: Labetalol reduces blood pressure primarily by blocking alpha-and beta-receptors, but other mechanisms of action may also be possible. We studied the effects of labetalol on the synthesis of vasodilatory prostacyclin (PGI2) and vasoconstrictory endothelin-1 (ET-1) by cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). We also studie...

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of vaginal and intracervical administration of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) on the uterine, umbilical, and fetal blood flow in hypertensive pregnancies. Methods: Thirty-two women with pregnancy-induced hypertension undergoing cervical ripening for preinduction of labor were randomized to receive either 2.0 mg of PGE2...

Summary In order to establish the role of natural killer cells in pre-eclampsia we measured the basal and interferon-stimulated activity of peripheral blood natural killer lymphocytes in 10 patients with severe pre-eclampsia. These activities did not differ from those in women with normal pregnancies (n=12), whereas the natural killer activity was...

Menopausal hot flashes may affect vascular function and perhaps explain conflicting data on cardiovascular disease (CVD) between observational and randomized hormone therapy (HT) studies. We prospectively assessed hot flash status in recently postmenopausal women and related it to a number of biochemical vascular surrogate markers for CVD. Healthy,...

Observational studies indicate that postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT) prevents cardiovascular disease, but randomized clinical trials have not confirmed this effect. Hot flushes were more likely to be present in women starting HT in observational studies, whereas these symptoms were mild or absent among women attending randomized clinical trials....

Local cervical factors may determine the outcome of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Nitric oxide (NO) may be one such factor, since it is produced by uterine cervical cells and it takes part in both immunological and carcinogenic reactions. We studied the association between the presence of cervical high risk (hr) HPV DNA and NO in the cervic...

To elucidate the mechanism of clomiphene action in the treatment of male infertility, we studied the effect of 3 month clomiphene treatment (50 mg daily) on the radioimmunoassay concentrations of gonadotropins (FSH, LH), prolactin (PRL), estradiol (E2), and testosterone (T) in seminal plasma and periphral serum in 11 normogonadotropic subfertil men...

Endostatin, an important anti-angiogenic factor produced by endothelial cells, is elevated in established pre-eclampsia. We measured maternal serum endostatin concentrations in early pregnancy associated with later pre-eclampsia and intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR). Retrospective case-control study. University Central Hospital. Serum samples...

To estimate the risk for breast cancer in Finnish women using postmenopausal estradiol (E2)-progestogen therapy. All Finnish women over 50 years using E2-progestogen therapy for at least 6 months in 1994-2005 (N=221,551) were identified from the national medical reimbursement register and followed up for breast cancer incidence (n=6,211 cases) thro...

The human uterine cervix is capable of producing nitric oxide (NO). We studied the impact of cytological changes on the release of cervical NO. Population-based case-control study. City of Helsinki, Finland. Cervical cytology tests and cervical fluid samples were collected in 297 women. Cervical cytology tests, classified according to Bethesda crit...

Tibolone is often taken concurrently with soy. Tibolone, soy and equol-producing capacity each affect vascular health, whereas their concomitant effects are unknown. We studied the effects of soy on sex steroids and vascular inflammation markers in long-term tibolone users. Postmenopausal women (n = 110) on tibolone were screened with a soy challen...

To evaluate the effect of estradiol, estradiol and norethisterone acetate (NETA), raloxifene and tibolone on the prostacyclin (PGI(2))/thromboxane A2 (TxA(2)) ratio in postmenopausal women after 8 weeks of treatment. This was a randomized, double-blind, cross-over study. Each patient took 8-week courses of estradiol 2 mg, estradiol 2 mg + NETA 1 mg...

To determine whether co-administration of soy during tibolone treatment would prevent tibolone-induced dyslipoproteinemia in postmenopausal monkeys and women. Surgically postmenopausal cynomolgus monkeys (n = 18) were assigned randomly to one of four dietary regimens in a Latin Square crossover design, such that all animals received all diets for 1...

Equol, a gut bacterial metabolite of isoflavone daidzein, may improve health through changes in vascular function and in estrogen metabolism. Tibolone, a synthetic steroid alternative for the treatment of postmenopausal symptoms, causes a different estrogenic milieu than estrogen and may affect vascular health. We studied the effects of equol produ...

Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy predisposes women to liver disorders years after affected pregnancy. We compared the basal levels and responses of hyaluronic acid, a marker of liver fibrosis, and liver transaminases to postmenopausal hormone therapy in women with (n = 20) and without (n = 20) a history of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy...

Placental abruption may be a manifestation of acute and chronic inflammatory process. We wanted to assess the association of first-trimester serum C-reactive protein (CRP), Chlamydia pneumoniae antibodies, Chlamydia trachomatis antibodies or chlamydial heat-shock protein 60 (CHSP60) antibodies to placental abruption. Retrospective case-control stud...

The value of urinary oestriol excretion and serum placental lactogen (HPL) in the early diagnosis of fetal distress has been compared in a retrospective study of 174 patients whose pregnancies were complicated by hypertension. Severe fetal-placental dysfunction was present in 36 pregnancies, and 25 (70%) were predicted by the oestriol test, 32 (89%...

Equol, a gut bacterial metabolite of the isoflavone daidzein, has been associated with beneficial health effects. Recent studies indicate that women with intestinal capacity to convert daidzein to equol also have the capacity to alter steroid metabolism and bioavailability of estrogens. We evaluated whether individual equol production capability, w...

High level of soluble endoglin (sEng), a potent antiangiogenic factor, predicts pre-eclampsia. We compared the serum levels of sEng in early second trimester in women with and without subsequent placental abruption. Proangiogenic placental growth factor (PlGF) and antiangiogenic soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1) were also studied. Serum s...

Paracetamol is often given as an adjunctive analgesic to reduce opioid-related adverse effects but its optimal dose is unknown. We studied the analgesic effect and safety of a single 3-g intravenous (i.v.) dose of paracetamol in adults. One hundred and seven patients undergoing tonsillectomy under local anaesthesia were randomly allocated to receiv...

To evaluate the efficacy of two ultra-low-dose 17beta-estradiol plus norethisterone acetate (NETA) treatment regimens for relieving menopausal symptoms. A total of 577 postmenopausal women were enrolled, in three treatment groups in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study of 0.5 mg 17beta-estradiol + 0.1 mg NETA or 0.5 mg 17beta-estrad...

Current recommendations for hormone therapy (HT) are mainly based on findings from studies using standard dose regimens in older women who had a different health profile from those who start HT soon after the onset of menopause. We, therefore, reviewed controlled trials assessing the efficacy, safety and tolerability of low-dose oral continuous com...

To analyze the association of second-trimester maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP) and free beta human chorionic gonadotrophin (MSbeta-hCG) levels to placental abruption. Fifty-seven women with placental abruption and 108 control women without placental abruption were tested for second-trimester MSAFP and MSbeta-hCG levels as a part of a triso...

Isoflavones may display beneficial health effects in postmenopausal women. We studied in a clinical trial whether isolated isoflavone treatment in postmenopausal women could affect reverse cholesterol transport as evaluated by adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette A1- (ABCA1), dependent cholesterol efflux from macrophages. In addition, various se...