| 1. |
- Gustafsson, Rita, et al.
(författare)
-
The Lactobacillus flora in vagina and rectum of fertile and postmenopausal healthy Swedish women
- 2011
-
Ingår i: BMC Women's Health. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1472-6874. ; 11:Article. nr 11
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Abstract Background: Lactobacillus species are the most often found inhabitants of vaginal ecosystem of fertile women. In postmenopausal women with low oestrogen levels, Lactobacillus flora is diminishing or absent. However, no studies have been performed to investigate the correlation between oestrogen levels and the lactobacilli in the gut. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relation in healthy women between vaginal and rectal microbial flora as well as possible variations with hormone levels. Methods: Vaginal and rectal smears were taken from 20 healthy fertile women, average 40 years (range 28-49 years), in two different phases of the menstrual cycle, and from 20 postmenopausal women, average 60 years (range 52-85 years). Serum sex hormone levels were analyzed. Bacteria from the smears isolated on Rogosa Agar were grouped by Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA and identified by multiplex PCR and partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Results: Lactobacillus crispatus was more often found in the vaginal flora of fertile women than in that of postmenopausal (p = 0.036). Fifteen of 20 fertile women had lactobacilli in their rectal smears compared to 10 postmenopausal women (p = 0.071). There was no correlation between the number of bacteria in vagina and rectum, or between the number of bacteria and hormonal levels. Neither could any association between the presence of rectal lactobacilli and hormonal levels be found. Conclusion: Lactobacillus crispatus was more prevalent in the vaginal flora of fertile women, whereas the Lactobacillus flora of rectum did not correlate to the vaginal flora nor to hormonal levels.
|
|
| 2. |
- Nilsson, Margareta, 1957-
(författare)
-
Female urinary incontinence : impact on sexual life and psychosocial wellbeing in patients and partners, and patient-reported outcome after surgery
- 2012
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Urinary incontinence (UI) and urgency are common conditions and can have a profound influence on many aspects of life. Approximately one in four women has UI and one in ten has daily symptoms. Knowledge is lacking, however, on the impact of UI and urgency on the lives of affected women and their partners and on the situation of women with urinary leakage one year postoperatively. Aims: To study the consequences of female UI and urgency for patients and their partners on quality of life (QoL), the partner relationship, and their sexual lives. Also to evaluate the success rates of three operation methods: tension-free vaginal tape (TVT), tension-free vaginal tape-obturator (TVT-O), and transobturator tape (TOT) for stress urinary incontinence (SUI), with a particular focus on women who still have urinary leakage one year after surgery. Methods: Women seeking healthcare for UI and/or urgency and their partners were invited to answer questionnaires. The women completed disease-specific questionnaires and both the women (n = 206) and their partners (n = 109) answered questions about their psychosocial situation, partner relationship, and sexual life. Patient-reported outcomes one year after surgery with TVT, TVT-O, or TOT (n = 3334) were derived from the Swedish National Quality Register for Gynaecological Surgery. Results: Most of the women reported that their urinary problems negatively affected their physical activities, and almost half reported negative consequences for their social life. Women aged 25–49 years were less satisfied with their psychological health, sexual life, and leisure than women aged 50–74 years. One third of both the women and their partners (all the partners were men) experienced a negative impact on their relationship, and sexual life was negatively affected in almost half of the women and one in five of their men. Coital incontinence was reported in one third of the women. Most of their men did not consider this a problem, but the majority of the affected women did. Satisfaction with outcome of the operation did not differ between TVT, TVT-O, and TOT, but TVT showed a higher success rate for SUI than TOT did. Higher age, higher body mass index, a diagnosis of mixed urinary incontinence, and a history of urinary leakage in combination with urgency each constitute a risk for a lower operation success rate. After one year, 29% of the women still had some form of UI, but half of these were satisfied with the outcome and most reported fewer negative impacts on family, social, working, and sexual life than before the operation. Conclusions: Female UI and/or urgency impaired QoL, particularly in young women, and had negative effects on partner relationships and on some partners’ lives. Sexual life was also affected, more often in women with UI and/or urgency than in their partners. At one-year follow-up after surgery, about one third of the women still had some form of UI, but the negative impact on their lives was reduced. A challenge for health care professionals is to initiate a dialogue with women with urinary symptoms about sexual function and what surgery can realistically be expected to accomplish.
|
|
