BackgroundInfertility is a public health problem associated with devastating psychosocial consequences. In countries where infertility care is difficult to access, women turn to herbal medicines to achieve parenthood. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and factors associated with herbal medicine use by women attending the infertility clinic.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study of 260 women attending the infertility clinic at Mulago hospital. The interviewer administered questionnaire comprised socio-demographic characteristics, infertility-related aspects and information on herbal medicine use. The main outcome measure was herbal medicines use for infertility treatment. Determinants of herbal medicine use were assessed using multivariable logistic regression.ResultsThe majority (76.2%) of respondents had used herbal medicines for infertility treatment. The mean age of the participants was 28.3 years ± 5.5. Over 80% were married, 59.6% had secondary infertility and 2/3 of the married participants were in monogamous unions. In a multivariable model, the variables that were independently associated with increased use of herbal medicine among infertile patients were being married (OR 2.55, CI 1.24-5.24), never conceived (OR 4.08 CI 1.86-8.96) and infertility for less than 3 years (OR 3.52 CI 1.51-8.821). Factors that were associated with less use of herbal medicine among infertile women were being aged 30 years or less (OR 0.18 CI 0.07-0.46), primary and no education (OR 0.12 CI 0.05-0.46) and living with partner for less than three years (OR 0.39 CI 0.16-0.93).ConclusionsThe prevalence of herbal medicine use among women attending the infertility clinic was 76.2%. Herbal medicine use was associated with the participants’ age, level of education, marital status, infertility duration, nulliparity, and duration of marriage. Medical care was often delayed and the majority of the participants did not disclose use of herbal medicines to the attending physician. Health professionals should enquire about use of herbal medicines. This may help in educating the patients about the health risks of using herbal medicine and may reduce delays in seeking appropriate care. Collaboration of health professionals with herbal medicine practitioners would help identify the common herbal medicines used for infertility treatment, their potential benefits and harm.
For many years, researchers have avoided including females in their research because of the poorly understood influences of cycling hormones. However, we are becoming increasingly aware that sex matters, showing that it is important to conduct studies in females as well as males. This review will focus on the central nervous system (CNS) actions of alcohol (ethanol) because we have found significant sex differences in ethanol actions at the molecular as well as the behavioral level. Most recently, in our studies of ethanol dependence and withdrawal, we found that female rats displayed a shorter time for recovery from ethanol withdrawal, assessed by measuring seizure susceptibility. We now report that this finding was confirmed with a second convulsant agent. Moreover, GABAA receptor function was differentially altered in ethanol-withdrawn female compared to male rats. Studies by other investigators have reported additional significant sex differences in ethanol seeking and drinking behaviors and across several measures of ethanol dependence and withdrawal. We are gaining a better understanding of how the actions of ethanol in the CNS overlay sex differences in brain architecture and the hormonal milieu. Therefore, it is not surprising to observe sex-selective effects on cellular and behavioral outcomes from ethanol consumption. While current research is focused on characterizing sex differences in the actions of ethanol, it has not yet reached the point where we can integrate our findings into a unifying concept of how being female differentially regulates CNS responses to ethanol. This is likely a result of the complexity of ethanol actions, involving multiple neurotransmitter systems and responses covering the spectrum from drug seeking behaviors to neuropathological consequences of ethanol misuse. Regardless, the observed sex differences in ethanol withdrawal are noteworthy because they suggest that treatment of alcoholism should be managed differently in women than in men. Finally, it remains important to compare and contrast responses in males and females because recent studies of sex differences in basic physiology have made it clear that being female impacts health and disease.
We investigated the actions of the neuroactive steroid, pregnanolone, and the ovarian steroid, 17-estradiol, on seizure expression during two time points of ethanol withdrawal (EW). Both steroids can exert rapid, nongenomic actions on the brain that include modulation of seizure activity. Because their basal levels differ in adult males and females and a major symptom of EW is increased seizure risk, we wanted to determine whether these steroids were anticonvulsant during EW. Rats were made ethanol-dependent by administration of 6% ethanol in a nutritionally complete liquid diet for 14 days. After removal of the ethanol-containing diet, EW and paired control rats were tested at 1 or 3 days for seizure responses to pentylenetetrazol. Consistent with previous reports, females seemed to have recovered from EW more quickly than males. We observed significant sex differences in responses to the steroids, primarily at 3 days EW. Pregnanolone afforded protection against seizures with larger effects during EW than in control conditions and greater effects in female than male rats. In contrast, effects of estradiol were mixed. Some responses of ovariectomized female rats were similar to intact females, whereas other responses were more similar to males. Our behavioral findings are consistent with observed EW-induced changes in plasma corticosterone levels, showing persistent elevations in male but not female rats. These results support and extend earlier findings suggesting that although the hormonal milieu influences EW, innate differences in brain structure between the sexes also contribute to sex differences in EW.Ethanol dependence develops from prolonged intake, is often disruptive to the social, occupational, and physical well being of the individual, and poses significant health and economic burdens. Withdrawal-induced seizures are a significant consequence of ethanol dependence and include risk of injury, even death. Treatment of ethanol withdrawal (EW) remains problematic because of the reduced effectiveness of anticonvulsant drugs due to cross-tolerance with ethanol. The distress and dysphoria of ethanol EW, including enhanced seizure risk, probably contribute to the high risk for relapse.Several clinical studies have found sex differences in the expression of EW behaviors and ethanol-induced diseases that have important ramifications for treatment (Ashley et al., 1977;Brown et al., 1988;Schenker, 1997;Deshmukh et al., 2003). These differences support a growing body of evidence showing that males and females have significant differences in inherent neurobiology expressed as varying risks for a number of neuronal-based diseases and responses to stressors, including alcohol (Brathen et al
These data further support the suggestion that alterations in subunit assembly of GABAA and NMDA receptors may have some mechanistic role in neuroadaptations underlying ethanol dependence and withdrawal. Furthermore, significant sex differences in these adaptations suggest that multiple types of adaptations may be elicited, depending on innate differences in the actions/effects of ethanol.
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