Search

Abstract: Background: Studies have suggested that estrogen is protective against Parkinson''s disease; however, the results have been inconsistent. Methods: Our cohort comprised 27,466 women from the prospective Diet, Cancer and Health study. At inclusion, all the cohort members filled in questionnaires on diet and lifestyle, including reproductive factors, use of hormone products, and smoking habits. The cohort was followed up for Parkinson''s disease in the Danish Hospital Register, and risks associated with indicators of exposure to estrogen were estimated in a Cox proportional hazards model. Results: No significant association was found between reproductive factors and risk for Parkinson''s disease. Use of oral contraceptives was associated with a nonsignificantly increased risk (hazard ratio, 1.30; 95% confidence interval, 0.81–2.09), as was use of hormone replacement therapy (1.41; 0.90–2.21). Conclusions: Our data do not support the hypothesis of a protective effect of estrogen on the risk for Parkinson''s disease in women. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Focuses on a study which assessed the hospital admission of women using third generation oral contraceptives, due to their risk of venous thromboembolism in Denmark from 1977 to 1995. Description of the study participants; Brief discussion on the results; Comments on the correlation between the admission rates for venous thromboembolism with the increase use of third generation oral contraceptives.