Roberta B Ness

..Although douching is common, it is a potentially harmful habit...

..To assess familial cardiovascular risk factors in women developing hypertension in pregnancy...

..The objective of this study was to assess in prospective data whether bacterial vaginosis (BV) is associated with gonococcal/chlamydial cervicitis...

..We investigated associations between HLA class II DQ alleles, chlamydial and gonococcal cervicitis, endometritis, and infertility among women with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)...

..Obesity eliminated the inverse association between smoking and preeclampsia but did not substantially alter the positive association between smoking and SGA. A possible unifying biologic explanation is discussed in this paper...

..To assess the diagnostic test characteristics of placental weight as a clinical predictor of small-for-gestational-age (SGA) neonates...

..Consistent condom use (about 60% of encounters) at baseline also reduced these risks, after adjustment for confounders, by 30% to 60%. Self-reported persistent and consistent condom use was associated with lower rates of PID sequelae...

..Bacterial vaginosis commonly is found in women with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), but it is unclear whether bacterial vaginosis leads to incident PID...

..The hypothesis that immune hyperresponsiveness limits reproductive capacity suggests many avenues for research...

..These data do not support an association between douching and development of PID or gonococcal/chlamydial genital infection among predominantly young, African-American women...

..We tested whether barrier contraception and shorter sexual experience with the father of the pregnancy would increase the risk of preeclampsia...

..A predisposition to coronary artery disease (CAD) may put women at risk for preeclampsia. Morbid preeclampsia (early, severe, recurrent, and with neonatal morbidity) represents the subset of preeclampsia of greatest public health concern...

..Black women are more likely to have bacterial vaginosis (BV) than are non-Hispanic white women. We examined whether this disparity can be explained by racial differences in known BV risk factors...

..To examine variability in bacterial vaginosis (BV) over 6- to 12-month intervals...

..Among these women, the baby is affected by shallow placentation but the mother does not develop clinically apparent disease. This conceptualization provides a testable framework for future etiologic studies of preeclampsia and IUGR...

..To assess prediction strategies for pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)...

..Douching has been linked to bacterial vaginosis as well as to chlamydial cervicitis in some, but not all, studies...

..In all of these ways, they have the capability to advance the science of epidemiology...

..09) in ovarian cancer risk associated with CHSP60-1 but not with CHSP60-2, CHSP60-3, or CHSP10. These data suggest that past or chronic persistent infection with chlamydia may be a risk factor for ovarian cancer...

..77, 95% confidence interval: 1.11, 69.2). When identified by microbial culture, a combination of BV-related microorganisms significantly elevated the risk of acquiring PID...

..Without all such time points, life course effects will remain only partially understood. It is hoped that studies such as the forthcoming National Children's Study will generate critical understanding of this issue...

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..Because factors such as oral contraceptive (OC), hormone therapy (HT), and parity may affect weight and hormone levels, the associations were examined in women with and without these characteristics...

..To determine whether parity is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) after accounting for perinatal complications...

..We investigated the association between endometritis and reproductive morbidity...

..We sought to examine the relationship between the use of estrogen plus testosterone (E + T) therapy (esterified estradiol plus methyltestosterone) and the occurrence of breast cancer...

..Among women with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), we assessed the associations among antibodies to Chlamydia trachomatis elementary bodies (EB), antibodies to chlamydia heat shock protein (Chsp60), rates of pregnancy, and PID recurrence...

..69; 95% CI, 0.44-1.10). CONCLUSIONS: A range of demographic, clinical, historical, and behavioral factors predict CPP after PID...

..The characteristics of nongonococcal, nonchlamydial PID have not been well described. Our objective was to examine the characteristics of Mycoplasma genitalium infection among women with clinically suspected PID...

..The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between cytokine genotypes and preeclampsia...

..The authors investigated the frequency of M235T and AGT -217 in Caucasian and African American women with and without preeclampsia...

..Study results indicate lower rates of severe preterm births and extreme SGA in women who report periconceptional vitamin use, although these should be considered cautiously until replicated...

..We assessed whether outpatient is as effective as inpatient treatment in relevant age, race, and clinical subgroups of women with PID...

..The observed variation in newborn GPA frequency might be due to either environmental factors not assessed in this study or inter-individual differences in alternative metabolic or DNA repair pathways...

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..Effectiveness differences between outpatient pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) treatment regimens are uncertain, but significant differences in cost exist...

..We hypothesized that women with small-for-gestational-age (SGA) neonates would have lower concentrations of leptin compared to women with appropriately grown infants (AGA)...

..As the consequences of Mycoplasma genitalium in pregnant women are unknown, we examined the relationship between prenatal M. genitalium infection and SAB...

..Inflammation was a more important mediator than triglycerides. These findings suggest that approximately one third of the total effect of body mass index on preeclampsia risk is mediated through inflammation and triglyceride levels...

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..We investigated whether the odds ratios for ovarian cancer that were associated with oral contraceptive use, childbearing, hysterectomy, and tubal ligation differ among women with and without endometriosis...

..We studied the microbial correlates of time to care and long-term outcomes among pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) patients, as delayed care may increase the risk for reproductive sequelae...

..The results indicate that some metabolic factors together with inflammation may be related to the risk of sPTB...

..To identify factors associated with SGA that may involve a placental pathogenesis, we related chronic hypertension and other maternal factors that may be markers of endothelial dysfunction to preterm compared with term SGA births...

..Utilities for PID could have important implications on the cost-effectiveness of interventions to prevent and manage this disease...

..Research comparing sequelae development by differing antimicrobial regimens is extremely limited, but will ultimately shape future treatment guidelines...

..We investigated changes in serum uric acid across pregnancy in women with gestational hyperuricemia at delivery, with and without preeclampsia, compared with normal pregnant and women with preeclampsia without gestational hyperuricemia...

..However, the latter condition occurs without maternal vascular disease...

..Prepregnancy overweight is a risk factor for mild preeclampsia and mild transient hypertension of pregnancy. Its association with severe subtypes of these disorders has received less attention...

..Differences in the frequency and severity of preeclampsia in African Americans cannot be explained by higher leptin concentrations...

..Hyperuricemia is at least as effective as proteinuria at identifying gestational hypertensive pregnancies at increased risk. Uric acid should be reexamined for clinical and research utility...

..To evaluate the relationship between douching and bacterial vaginosis (BV) among women with and without prior abnormal vaginal flora...

..Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are involved in the innate immune response. We examined whether TLR variants are associated with Chlamydia trachomatis infection among women with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)...

..Women who have delivered a preterm infant are at elevated risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), but mechanisms for this association are not understood...

..Mediating factors may reflect endogenous hormone levels, OC metabolism, or OC bioactivity...

..To explore the dose-dependent relation between prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and the risk of preeclampsia after adjusting for measured confounders...

..Preterm birth is associated with maternal cardiovascular risk, but mechanisms are unknown...

..We compared several metabolic markers of the metabolic syndrome in healthy primigravid smokers and nonsmokers over normal pregnancy to explore mechanisms for the reduced risk of preeclampsia in smokers...

..CONCLUSIONS: The disturbing rates of time interval adherence, even after hospitalization, suggest the need to determine the effectiveness of antibiotic regimens involving shorter courses and longer dosing intervals...

..We estimated the population attributable fractions of severe or early PE associated with pre-existing conditions among nulliparous and multiparous women...

..5-fold (95% CI: 1.8, 6.6) and 2.8-fold (95% CI: 1.6, 4.9) in African Americans. Cytokine genotypes found to be more common in African-American women were consistently those that up-regulate inflammation...

..However, little is known about genetic susceptibility and possible interactions with cigarette smoking which may increase risk of these events...

..CONCLUSION: Among women with mild-to-moderate pelvic inflammatory disease, there was no difference in reproductive outcomes between women randomized to inpatient treatment and those randomized to outpatient treatment...

..We detected M genitalium in 7 (14%) of the women tested: 6 (12%) in cervical specimens and 4 (8%) in endometrial specimens. We conclude that M genitalium is prevalent in the endometrium of women with nongonococcal, nonchlamydial PID...

..This analysis shows the importance of consortia, like the OCAC, in either confirming or refuting the validity of putative findings in studies with smaller sample sizes. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17(12):3567-72)...

..The association between cigarette smoking and ovarian cancer may vary according to the histologic type of tumor...

..In this review, hyperimmune responsiveness to pregnancy is provided as one example of a process leading to a multitude of adverse impacts on healthy childbearing. Further research on reproductive failure as a spectrum is warranted...

..Chlamydia trachomatis and/or Neisseria gonorrhoeae account for approximately one-third to one-half of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) cases. Thus, up to 70% of cases have an unknown, nongonococcal/nonchlamydial microbial etiology...

..trachomatis infection; better tools to measure PID and tubal damage; and studies on the natural history of repeated chlamydial infections are needed...

..We offer a clinical opinion that MRPs may have broad implications for successful reproduction, potentially involved in the composition of vaginal microflora, risks of preterm birth and preeclampsia, and success of assisted reproduction...

..To identify the value that women with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) assign to the health impact of future infertility...

..Racial differences in diet, adherence to folic acid supplementation, or interactions of nutritional and maternal factors warrant further study by race and pregnancy status...

..A proinflammatory milieu can also directly increase estrogen production. Hence, inflammation may work in conjunction with or in addition to estrogen exposure in the development of endometrial cancer...

..Although a handful of studies have shown that monotherapies for PID achieve high rates of clinical cure, the efficacy of these regimens in treating anaerobic PID and in preventing adverse reproductive sequelae is not fully elucidated...

..We sought to determine whether offspring gender, which differentially alters maternal hormonal milieu, may be associated with maternal ovarian cancer risk...

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..No data exist as to whether lead exposure is higher in arrested delinquents. The goal of this study is to evaluate the association between lead exposure, as reflected in bone lead levels, and adjudicated delinquency...

..When comparing adolescent women (aged 14-19) to young women (aged 20-25), the adolescents had stronger associations with the outcome variables...

..Moreover, treatments for endometriosis may require consideration of the impact on long-term cancer risk...

..Anecdotal reports suggest that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Privacy Rule (HIPAA Privacy Rule) may be affecting health research in the United States...

..10, 2.71) and unknown cause of infertility (OR = 1.19, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.40) increased cancer risk. These data suggest a role for specific biologic causes of infertility, but not for fertility drugs in overall risk for ovarian cancer...

..If confirmed by others, these results suggest that regular use of a multivitamin supplement in the periconceptional period may help to prevent preeclampsia, particularly among lean women...

..To test the hypothesis that use of lipid-lowering drugs reduces the risk of breast cancer in older women...

..Breast density is a strong risk factor for breast cancer, but little is known about factors associated with breast density in women over 70...

..This paper describes evidence of a positive effect of both endogenous and exogenous estrogen and progesterone on lung function across the life span in women...

..We assessed the accuracy and reliability of maternal recall of infant birth weight 35 to 70 years after delivery...

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..Women who deliver preterm infants may be at increased risk for cardiovascular disease, perhaps related to dyslipidemia...

..80, 95% CI: 0.44, 1.47). These data do not support an independent association between incomplete pregnancies, either spontaneous or induced, and ovarian cancer risk...

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..Women with a history of preeclampsia demonstrate altered expression of angiogenesis-related proteins and increased HOMA(IR) more than 1 yr postpartum. These factors may contribute to their risk of future CVD...

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..The objective of this study was to compare the demographic, clinical, and microbiologic findings in women with subclinical pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and women with acute PID...

..The triad of inflammation, low HDL, and insulin resistance may elevate risk for both preeclampsia/eclampsia and cardiovascular disease in later life...

..These null results for SNPs identified from relatively large initial studies shows the importance of replicating associations by a consortium approach...

..CONCLUSION: Women with preeclampsia had an increased IgG seroprevalence to C pneumoniae but not to C trachomatis or C psittaci. These preliminary data suggest a specific association between infection with C pneumoniae and preeclampsia...

..At the University of Pittsburgh, the combination of outstanding potential students, didactic experiences, and mentorship will maximize the likelihood of producing future leaders in RPP epidemiology. ..