This is the first attempt to report the data on menopause from Uttarakhand, a state located in northern India. Computed age at the onset of menopause varied by approximately 2 years with different methodologies used. Socioeconomic status and lifestyles significantly affect the age at the onset of menopause. Most of the women rated menopause as a positive change in life.

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The effect of feeding lead (50 mg kg(-1) body weight) daily for 7 days on the development of various brush border enzymes in the intestine has been studied. The activities of brush border sucrase (P < 0.001), lactase (P < 0.001), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (P < 0.05) and leucine aminopeptidase were reduced (P < 0.05), whereas the alkaline phosphatase level was augmented (P < 0.05) in lead fed rats compared with controls. Kinetic studies with sucrase revealed a low Vmax (0.224 in control and 0.160 units mg(-1) protein in lead exposed) with no change in Km (12.6-13.5 mM). Western blot analysis for alkaline phosphatase yielded intense staining of enzyme protein in lead fed rats compared with controls, however, the intensity of the antigen signal was reversed for sucrase under these conditions. These findings suggest that ingestion of lead may interfere with the crypt cell differentiation process thus affecting enzyme functions in the rat intestine.

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