Tracing Time Trends of Births in Greece.

Introduction The aim of this study was to comprehensively investigate and present time trends in births in Greece over the last seven decades. Methods Data on live births were derived from the Hellenic Statistical Authority, covering a 72-year period from 1950 to 2021. Trends in the number of births were assessed using joinpoint regression analysis. The annual percentage change (APC) and the average annual percent change (AAPC) were calculated with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI) and level of statistical significance p<0.05. Results The overall trend during 1950-2021 was clearly downward (AAPC = -0.9, 95% CI: -1.2 to -0.7). Over the first three decades, births fluctuated to a record high of 162,839 in 1967, with an overall slight downward trend (1950-1981: APC = -0.2, 95% CI: -0.4 to -0.1, p<0.001). During the 1980 decade, the trend was sharply downward (1981-1988: APC = -4.7, 95% CI: -6.2 to -3.2, p<0.001), followed by a stabilization in the 1990s (1988-2001: APC = -0.1, 95% CI: -0.7 to 0.4, p=0.586). The first decade of the 21st century was the only period during the last seven decades with an increasing trend in births in the Greek population (2001-2008: APC = 1.9, 95% CI: 0.3 to 3.5, p = 0.021), but it was followed by plummeting trends during the recent years (2008-2021: APC = -2.7, 95% CI: -3.2 to -2.3, p<0.001), leading to the historic low of 83,756 births in 2019. Conclusion The time trend analysis of births in Greece indicated a dramatic plummet in natality in Greece, predominantly attributed to the large decline in births in the 1980s, which could not be reversed in the 1990s and 2000s. The recent decrease in births was associated with the financial recession and has put the Greek population in a disastrous low-fertility spiral.

Treatment for Infertility in Laron Syndrome: A Case Report.

Laron syndrome is a rare, genetic, growth hormone insensitivity disorder caused by mutations in the growth hormone receptor gene. Affected patients have severe postnatal growth failure, characteristic facial features, and metabolic abnormalities, including severe obesity and metabolic syndrome. Women with Laron syndrome are usually subfertile, mainly due to obesity and metabolic dysregulation, and require treatment for their chronic reproductive dysfunction. To date, infertility in Laron syndrome patients is a rarely addressed problem and, as a result, adequate data regarding its treatment are lacking. Here we present, for the first time in the literature, a rare case of successful treatment of a young woman with Laron syndrome who suffered from infertility due to hyperprolactinemia.

Fetal heterozygosity for both Hb G-Hsi-Tsou and beta thalassemia: A case report.

INTRODUCTION: This case report describes a fetus with compound heterozygosity for Hb G-Hsi-Tsou and beta thalassemia, diagnosed in a healthy pregnancy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first documented case of compound heterozygosity and the woman is the second known case of heterozygosity for Hb G-Hsi-Tsou. CASE PRESENTATION: A 34-year-old woman during her first pregnancy underwent hemoglobin electrophoresis which revealed heterozygosity for Hb G-Hsi-Tsou. Hemoglobin G-Hsi-Tsou constitutes a hemoglobin variant with a structural abnormality of the beta chain, first described in 1972, but since then no other cases have been reported. After finding out that her husband was heterozygous for beta thalassemia, chorionic villus sampling revealed the embryo's heterozygosity for both Hb G-Hsi-Tsou and beta thalassemia. Due to lack of scientific data, the couple decided to end the pregnancy. CONCLUSION: It was not possible to determine whether the fetus would present serious deficiencies in hematopoiesis, as Hb G-Hsi-Tsou is a variant which is not yet fully understood. What made this case even more complex was the simultaneous presence of the beta thalassemia allele.

A comparison of the dietary and total intake of micronutrients in a group of pregnant Greek women with the Dietary Reference Intakes.

OBJECTIVE: We compared the dietary and total (diet and supplement) intake of micronutrients with the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) from the USA in a population of pregnant Greek women. METHODS: Two hundred pregnant women participated in a nutritional survey, 98 in the second trimester and 102 in the third trimester in a random sampling. To examine dietary intake we used two questionnaires, the nutritional questionnaire for pregnant women from the California Department of Health Services, and a semi-quantitative questionnaire (Walter Willet) with modifications for use in Greece. Dietary intake analysis was performed using the Diet Analysis Plus software, Version 3, ESHA Research. Statistical analysis was performed with Minitab for Windows, Release 12. A simple complementary questionnaire concerning demographic and socio-economic features was also completed. RESULTS: The average total intake of vitamins A, B(1), B(2), B(3), B(6), B(12) and C, calcium and phosphorus was higher than the respective DRIs. Folic acid and iron intake exceed the highest values specified for pregnancy. Vitamin E and zinc was lower than the DRIs, while vitamin D, magnesium and thiamin did not differ. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study suggest that in a Greek population, sufficient micronutrients appear to be received in adequate amount from diet, except for folic acid and iron, which also had to be taken in the form of nutritional supplements.