Women, Peace and Security after Europe's ‘refugee crisis’

Since its inception in 2000, the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda has conceptualised the conflict-affected woman as a subject worthy of international attention, protection, and inclusion. In the wake of Europe's ‘refugee crisis’, this article examines how the remit of WPS has broadened from women in conflict zones to refugees in Europe's borderlands. A minority of European states now attend, in their WPS policy, to these conflict-affected women on the move. This inclusion productively challenges established notions of where conflict-affectedness is located. It exposes Europe as not always peaceful and safe for women, especially refugees who flee war. Conversely, the dominant tendency to exclude refugees from European WPS policy is built on a fantasy of Europe as peaceful and secure for women, which legitimises the fortressing of Europe and obscures European states’ complicity in fuelling insecurity at their borders, cultivating an ethos of coloniality around the WPS agenda. The inclusion of refugees is no panacea to these problems. If focused solely on protection, it repositions European states as protective heroes and conflict-affected women as helpless victims. The WPS framework nonetheless emphasises conflict-affected women's participation in decision-making and conflict prevention, opening space for recognising the refugee women as political actors.

Women’s Experience of Infertility and Disenfranchised Grief

Infertility grief often takes an emotional and mental toll on the affected woman. This phenomenological study examined women’s experiences of infertility grief and how their grief has been disenfranchised by other people in their lives. Interviews were conducted with eight women who met criteria for infertility and were U.S. residents. The women were asked to share aspects of their grief associated with infertility and findings were categorized into the three domains of disenfranchised grief. Findings provided a greater understanding of how women experienced invalidation from others and how invalidation further complicated their grief. Implications included how to increase support for infertile women and provide validating counseling services.

Psychological Aspects of Breast Reconstruction after Breast Cancer

Even though breast cancer mortality is declining, the diagnosis still poses a huge threat for the affected woman and her close family. Breast cancer surgery, which often includes reconstructive procedures, can help restoring a satisfactory body image. The decision on the type of surgery should always be made together with the patient and should focus on her psychosocial needs. This review describes the psychological aspects of breast cancer for the patient and her social environment and offers ideas for a patient-oriented treatment plan.

Rectovaginal fistula due to missing Intra Uterine Contraceptive Device

Case: Rectovaginal fistula is an abnormal communication between the rectum and the vaginal. This leads to uncontrollable passage of feces and flatus through the vagina. It therefore causes distressing physical, social and psychological symptoms on the affected woman. The commonest cause of Rectovaginal Fistula is obstetric trauma commonly in developing countries with poor access to Obstetric care or substandard care provision. The case reported here highlights a rare situation in which a birth control measure of Intrauterine Contraceptive Device (IUD) in a 36 years old healthy female leads to a high Rectovaginal fistula.

Rectovaginal Fistula Due to Missing Intra Uterine Contraceptive Device

Rectovaginal fistula is an abnormal communication between the rectum and the vaginal. This leads to uncontrollable passage of feces and flatus through the vagina. It therefore causes distressing physical, social and psychological symptoms on the affected woman. The commonest cause of Rectovaginal Fistula is obstetric trauma commonly in developing countries with poor access to Obstetric care or substandard care provision. The case reported here highlights a rare situation in which a birth control measure of Intrauterine Contraceptive Device (IUD) in a 36 years old healthy female leads to a high Rectovaginal fistula.Keywords: fecal incontinence, missing IUD, rectovaginal fistula

THERAPY OF ENDOCRINE DISEASE: Treatment of hirsutism in the polycystic ovary syndrome

Hirsutism is a common medical complaint among women of reproductive age, and it affects the majority of women with the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Increased rate of androgen production and its availability in tissue represent the main pathophysiological mechanisms responsible for hirsutism. In addition, androgens may be generated de novo in the hair follicle; therefore, circulating androgen levels do not quantify the real exposure of the hair follicle to androgens, as a quota is locally generated. Hirsutism is a clinical sign and not a disease in itself; its presence does not therefore necessarily require treatment, particularly in mild-to-moderate forms, and when an affected woman does not worry about it. Physicians should decide whether hirsutism is to be treated or not by evaluating not only the severity of the phenomenon but also the subjective perception of the patient, which does not necessarily correspond to the true extent of hair growth. In any case, a physician should manage a woman with hirsutism only on the basis of a diagnosis of the underlying cause, and after a clear explanation of the efficacy of each therapeutic choice. Cosmetic procedures and pharmacological intervention are commonly used in the treatment of hirsutism and are discussed in this paper. Importantly, there are different phenotypes of women with hirsutism and PCOS that may require specific attention in the choice of treatment. In particular, when obesity is present, lifestyle intervention should be always considered, and if necessary combined with pharmacotherapy.

Factor V Leiden and the risk of stillbirth in a German population

SummaryAn association between the factor V Leiden variant and an increased risk of pregnancy loss has been reported. Most previous studies were performed with clinically recruited patients and controls. This approach may cause selection bias. The present analysis was performed with the aim to investigate the association between the factor V Leiden mutation and the risk of stillbirth in a population-based sample.The Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP) is a survey that was carried out in North East Germany. A random sample from the population aged 20 to 79 years was taken. The total SHIP population comprised 4,310 participants. The presence of the factor V Leiden variant was determined by PCR and Mnl I digestion. The presence of the factor V Leiden variant was neither associated with the number of pregnancies nor with the number of children per women. Data from 1,768 females who had at least one pregnancy with known outcome was available for the present analysis. Seventy-three women (4.1%) reported at least one stillbirth. Women with and without the factor V Leiden mutation did not differ with respect to the number of women with at least one stillbirth (OR for factor V Leiden variant 1.57; 95%-CI 0.76 – 3.25). Furthermore, the number of women with two or more stillbirths, the number of stillbirths per affected woman and the number of stillbirths per number of pregnancies per woman was similar between both genotype groups.In conclusion, there is no association between the factor V Leiden mutation and the risk of stillbirth in a representative population sample.