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In July 2002 the data of the prematurely stopped Estrogen plus Progestin study of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) were presented in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The results of the Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study (HERS/HERS II) were published in the same issue. The results of WHI for healthy postmenopausal women often are interpreted to be in analogy with the HERS/HERS II results for postmenopausal women with established coronary heart disease. As a result of HERS/HERS II and WHI, use of HRT in general became questionable. This is an unjustified judgement of HRT in general. This synoptic review and criticism of both studies will show the methodological weaknesses and their consequences and the reasons for limited generalizability of the study results from WHI and HERS/HERS II on normal HRT users.

The incidence of breast cancer in women varies with age, mammary gland mass and exposure to endogenous and exogenous hormones. Age is the single most important factor and if, as projected, 32% of women will be aged >60 years by 2050, world breast cancer incidence will exceed the current 10(6) per year. Hormonal influences that affect growth of the mammary gland increase the risk of breast cancer; for example earlier menarche and later menopause. Childbearing protects against later development of breast cancer, and breastfeeding further decreases the risk. The breast cancer risk declines more with increasing total duration of breastfeeding. Exposure to hormonal contraceptives has been evaluated in a combined reanalysis of data from 51 epidemiological studies. There is a small transient increase in the relative risk of breast cancer among users of oral contraceptives but, since use typically occurs at young ages when breast cancer is relatively rare, such an increase would have little effect on overall incidence rates. In contrast, exposure to menopause hormone treatment occurs when the baseline risk of breast cancer is higher, and epidemiological studies and randomized controlled trials consistently find an increase in breast cancer risk with exposure to combined estrogen and progestogen. Women with a family history of breast cancer in first degree relatives have an increased risk of breast cancer but there is no evidence to suggest that this differs according to a woman's use of oral contraceptives or menopause hormone treatment. Selective estrogen receptor modulators are useful in the treatment and/or prevention of breast cancer depending on the specific agonist or antagonist effects on estrogen target tissues.

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The paper reports on nine twin pregnancies in the years 1982-1987 with the intrauterine death of a single fetus. The incidence of 0.10% is consistent with that reported in other comparable studies. Evaluation of the causes of death shows a preponderance of asphyxia. A fetofetal transfusion syndrome occurred in 4 cases. Eight of the pregnancies were terminated by caesarean section. One of the surviving children died in the neonatal period. The course of the neonatal period in the other babies was determined mainly by the state of maturity. No increased maternal morbidity was observed. On the basis of this and other experience described in the literature, some general guidelines are proposed for the management of the further pregnancy and delivery in such high-risk cases.

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Serum concentrations of the pregnancy-specific beta 1-glycoprotein (SP 1) and human placental lactogen (HPL) were measured by radioimmunoassay in 372 blood samples obtained from 40 women in the second half of a normal singleton pregnancy. The mean level of SP 1 steadily increased from 40 micrograms/ml in the 22nd week of pregnancy to 168 micrograms/ml in the 36th week of gestation and thereafter reached a plateau. The half-life of SP 1 during the first week after delivery was about 39 h. The clinical value of SP 1 in comparison to HPL estimations was assessed in a prospective study of a few high risk pregnancies. There were no significant differences between serum SP 1 and HPL levels in pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia with or without intrauterine growth retardation and in twin pregnancies. Serum HPL and SP 1 levels were equally effective in predicting placental insufficiency with fetal growth retardation.

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