Impact of Endometriosis on work productivity and quality of life: a survey from Italy.

Endometriosis, usually called as "cancer of the career-woman", is being recognized as a “social disease” for its prevalence and its debilitating impact on young women, leading to a high socio-economic burden of the disease. This study was performed from January 2011 to January 2013 at the Department of Gynecological, Obstetrics and Urological Sciences (Sapienza University of Rome, Sant’ Andrea Hospital) in order to assess the impact of endometriosis-related symptoms on work productivity and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Anonymous questionnaires were administered individually to a total of 254 women with surgically diagnosed endometriosis. The questionnaires consisted of three sections: Patient Health Survey (SF-12), the Endometriosis Health Profile (EHP-5), and the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Survey (WPAI). Our results confirm that endometriosis has a significant impact on work productivity and HRQoL of affected women, leading to high economic burden and huge costs to society. Therefore it is time to make serious investments in researchers, in order to achieve a precocious diagnosis of the disease and to improve the treatment of this debilitating condition

Benthic foraminifers and siliceous sponge spicules assemblages in the Quaternary rhodolith rich sediments from Pontine Archipelago shelf

The bottom samples (Quaternary in age) of two cores (CS1 and Caro1) collected at 60 and 122 m water depth in the marine area near Ponza Island (Pontine Archipelago, Tyrrhenian Sea) are investigated. In particular, benthic foraminifers and siliceous sponge spicules are considered. The coralline red algae (pralines, boxworks and unattached branches) are abundant in both samples and, particularly, in the CS1 bottom as well as the benthic foraminifers. The siliceous sponge spicules also are very diversified and abundant in the CS1 bottom sample, while in the Caro1 bottom they are rare and fragmented. Benthic foraminiferal assemblage of two samples is dominated by Asterigerinata mamilla and Lobatula lobatula, typical epiphytic species but also able to live on circalittoral detrital seafloors, adapting to an epifaunal lifestyle. Based on these data the bottom of the studied cores represents the upper circalittoral zone, within the present-day depth limit distribution of coralline red algae in the Pontine Archipelago (shallower than 100 m water depth)

Celiac disease and endometriosis: An insidious and worrisome association hard to diagnose: A case report

Background: Primary infertility is an unusual presentation of celiac disease (CD). When non-classical symptoms are present, the diagnosis is not easy and it becomes even more difficult when CD is associated with endometriosis, representing a diagnostic challenge for medical practitioners and gynecologists. Case Report: A 34-year-old patient presented to the authors' observation with primary infertility. Formerly she was treated for endometriosis and the diagnosis of CD was delayed. A favorable clinical and serological response following a gluten-free-diet (GFD) was achieved and a successful pregnancy was obtained. Discussion: This case report emphasizes the role of the CD in women's infertility and the possible association between CD and endometriosis. Even if the relationship between these two diseases is still unclear and further studies to address this issue are required, more attention from gynecologists is needed, considering that the later this association is diagnosed, the greater the probability of adverse outcomes of health developing

A 29-year-old woman with complex atypical hyperplasia and polycystic ovary syndrome: a challenging issue.

Background: The standard treatment for complex atypical hyperplasia is hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. Although radical surgery offers high survival prospects, it also eliminates any chance of further fertility, thus in young nulliparous women who wish to preserve their childbearing potential, a conservative progestin therapy is preferable. Case report: The authors report a case of complex atypical hyperplasia in a 29-year-old nulliparous woman with polycystic ovary syndrome treated with norethisterone acetate in order to preserve her childbearing potential. The specimens sampled during the follow-up demonstrated inactive endometrium with pseudodecidual changes and no ultrasonographic images exhibited abnormal endometrial thickness. Conclusion: According to literature and to the authors' experience, they can affirm that progestin treatment is the most reasonable option for young nulliparous women affected by complex atypical hyperplasia who desire to maintain their fertility potential, showing its efficacy also in patients with an associated polycystic ovary syndrome

Combined oral contraceptives: health benefits beyond contraception.

It has been recognized for over 50 years that combined oral contraceptives (COCs) are also capable of offering health benefits beyond contraception through the treatment and prevention of several gynaecological and medical disorders. During the last years a constant attention was given to the adverse effects of COCs, whereas their non-contraceptive benefits were underestimated. To date, most women are still unaware of the therapeutic uses of hormonal contraceptives, while on the contrary there is an extensive and constantly increasing of these non-contraceptive health benefits. This review summarizes the conditions of special interest for physicians, including dysmenorrhoea, menorrhagia, hyperandrogenism (acne, hirsutism, polycystic ovary syndrome), functional ovarian cysts, endometriosis, premenstrual syndrome, myomas, pelvic inflammatory disease, bone mineral density, benign breast disease and endometrial/ovarian and colorectal cancer. The benefits of COCs in rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, menstrual migraine and in perimenopause have also been treated for more comprehensive information. Using COCs specifically for non-contraceptive indications is still outside the product licence in the majority of cases. We strongly believe that these aspects are not of minor relevance and they deserve a special consideration by health providers and by the mass media, which have the main responsibility in the diffusion of scientific information. Thus, counseling and education are necessary to help women make well-informed health-care decisions and it is also crucial to increase awareness among general practitioners and gynaecologists

Metabolic syndrome and polycystic ovary syndrome: an intriguing overlapping

Metabolic syndrome is an increasing pathology in adults and in children, due to a parallel rise of obesity. Sedentary lifestyle, food habits, cultural influences and also a genetic predisposition can cause dyslipidemia, hypertension, abdominal obesity and insulin resistance which are the two main features of metabolic syndrome. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a condition directly associated with obesity, insulin resistance (HOMA index) and metabolic syndrome, and it is very interesting for its relationship and overlap with the metabolic syndrome. The relationship between the two syndromes is mutual: PCOS women have a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome and also women with metabolic syndrome commonly present the reproductive/endocrine trait of PCOS. Prevention and treatment of metabolic syndrome and PCOS are similar for various aspects. It is necessary to treat excess adiposity and insulin resistance, with the overall goals of preventing cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes and improving reproductive failure in young women with PCOS. First of all, lifestyle changes, then pharmacological therapy, bariatric surgery and laparoscopic ovarian surgery represent the pillars for PCOS treatment

The Influence of Socio-Demographic Factors on Miscarriage Incidence Among Italian and Immigrant Women: A Critical Analysis from Italy

Miscarriage is one of the most relevant adverse events in women's reproductive life. The purpose of the study was to describe miscarriage trend in Italy during the last years among Italian and immigrant women, to compare miscarriage rates of the two groups and to evaluate the effect of age, nationality and educational level on the incidence of having a miscarriage. Then, a brief critical review of other miscarriage risk factors was performed. This study is based on ISTAT database. All data were analyzed through the statistical software SPSS and the following analytical techniques were used: multivariate logistic regression, factorial analysis of variance and Chi square test. Immigrant miscarriage rates resulted higher than Italian ones and they decreased from 2003 to 2009 unlike Italian ones, which remained unchanged. The effect of maternal age on the miscarriage incidence resulted different, depending on the nationality; for Italian women it increased with increasing of age and for immigrant women the opposite trend was found. Moreover, miscarriage incidence resulted significantly different depending on the maternal educational level. Whereas immigrant women considered did not belong to the same ethnic group, biological or genetic factors underlying these differences were excluded and a socioeconomic explanation was provided. Finally, in order to provide more complete information, other miscarriage risk factors were discussed through a brief review of the literature. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

Carbazole-Terpyridine Donor-Acceptor Dyads with Rigid π-Conjugated Bridges

A series of molecules in which 9H-carbazole (electron donor, D) and 2,2 ':6 ',2 ''-terpyridine (electron acceptor, A) are connected through rigid pi-conjugated bridges (D-pi-A systems) have been synthesized and their photophysical properties examined in detail, with the support of DFT calculations. The bridges are made of different sequences of ethynylene, phenylene, and anthracene groups. The synthetic strategies involve condensation of 2-acetylpyridine with the aromatic aldehyde moiety on different functionalized pi-conjugated bridges and couplings with carbazole derivatives. The system incorporating anthracene in the bridge shows the typical absorption and emission fingerprints of this polycyclic hydrocarbon. The other systems have HOMOs and LUMOs centred, respectively, over the carbazole and the bridge and exhibit solvatochromic charge-transfer (CT) luminescence with high photoluminescence yield up to 70 %, except when an ethynylene unit is directly attached to the carbazole ring, due to a trans-bent non-emissive pi-sigma* excited state

Smart Garden (SMAG): A System of Outdoor Furniture Equipped with Artificial Intelligence

The “fourth industrial revolution” refers above all to production methods (Industry 4.0), the transformations of the digital technological compo- nents consequently also spill over into the world of product design. These trans- formations pose important challenges and calls for a partial revision of the design methods and operational processes. The article present a research project recently carried out in our laboratory that involved the use of advanced technology both for the operation of product and for the realization of the prototype. As within the Industry 4.0 paradigm, rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing technologies allowed us to introduce effective iterative product validation cycles for design

The Plio-Pleistocene sedimentation on the sediment-starved Pontine continental slope (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy): A complex history

[No abstract available