February 10, 2011

Clear Concept: The Contraceptive Choices That Women Are Unaware Of

Filed under: birth control options — Tags: birth control, birth control benefits, birth control effects, birth control methods, birth control options, Birth Control Pill, birth control types, condoms, evra patch, hormonal contraceptive, IUD, NuvaRing — Janine @ 11:03 am

Birth Control has evolved over the past decade to rectify two significant problems: abnormal bleeding and missing pills. Instead of switching to the newly improved contraception available, women are nonetheless sticking to more common methods of birth control mainly including birth control pills, condoms and withdrawal. Women are uninformed of the many non-contraceptive benefits offered by the different types of birth control available today.

birth control options One example would be the advantages of the birth control pill, aside from contraception, the pill cuts the risk of ovarian and uterine cancers, relieves heavy bleeding and painful menstruation. Women are still wary to use hormonal methods of contraception due to exaggerated misinformation about the risks involved.

There are 4 different types of oral contraceptives:

Low dose – contraceptives that carry low levels of ethinyl estradiol and progestin.
Combined oral contraceptives – contraceptives that contain twenty to thirty micrograms of ethinyl estradiol with progestin.
Progestin drospirenone (DRSP) – used in Yaz and Yasmin, drospirenone has the same pharmacological effects of that of natural progesterone thus it also has slight diuretic properties. Yaz has 24/4 formulation meaning users take active pills for twenty four days and inactive pills for four days; during the four days menstruation occurs.
Extended cycle – contraceptives that allow women to opt out of menstruating, for either convenience or health reasons. With this option, women take active pills for over two cycles while omitting the hormone free interval which induces menstruation. The extended cycle has the same risks as that of the general 21/7 cycle.

The theoretical efficiency of oral contraception is not often lived up to in the real world due to regular missed pills. Studies show that up to forty percent of women often miss pills in any birth control regimen causing unwanted pregnancy and unscheduled bleeding. The transdermal patch and vaginal ring were created to minimize these problems. The patch (Evra, Ortho-Janssen) releases hormones into the skin every day for a week. The ring (Nuvaring, Merck) delivers hormones daily for one month. Both contraceptives are extremely effective and related to improved bleeding although there had been concerns about the dosage of estrogen continuously being delivered to the body. There are concerns regarding the Evra patch which dispatches more estrogen than the regular patch. There had also been warnings issued by the FDA and Health Protection Branch (HPB) about the increased risk of thrombosis associated with the patch. Hence the (vaginal ring is seen as the most competent in cycle control and consistent with the lowest rate of unscheduled bleeding. In spite of the favorable points, girls are not open to the way the ring is self administered (insertion into the vagina).

The intrauterine device continues to be overlooked by its poor image and is still unknown for its obliging efficacy and safety. Overshadowed by false ideas of increased pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility, patients and physicians are oblivious of the benefits of the intrauterine device.

Copper IUD – Can be used for thirty months and are believed to be 96% to 98% effective. Failure rates are about 1% and the rates of discontinuation are around 10% – 15% mostly due to increased bleeding and pain.
Mirena IUD – This IUD can be used up to five years with the highest efficacy rates of 99.8%.

The effectiveness of the use of the intrauterine device is comparable to that of surgical female sterilization. Aside from contraception, other advantages offered by the IUD include significant decrease in dysmenorrhea and bleeding. Insertion is a procedure done at a clinical office.

Evidently contraceptives are still being developed and new developments continue to be introduced to the general public. As the number of contraceptive options increase, the challenge lingers to increase awareness and reassure patients of the safety of these options.

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November 5, 2010

Birth Control Gel in testing stages

Filed under: birth control,birth control methods,birth control options,birth control types,contraception,contraceptive,contraceptives — Tags: birth control, birth control benefits, birth control effects, birth control methods, birth control options, birth control types, contraceptive, contraceptives, hormonal contraceptive, progesterone — Janine @ 12:07 pm

Birth Control comes in many forms including implant, injection, patch, ring, IUD, pills, and soon gel! The birth control gel is still in its early testing stages, but the results are looking optimal. The gel can be rubbed onto the arms, legs, shoulders or abdomen much like a moisturizer. Applying 3 milligrams of the gel daily will deliver the right dosage of progesterone and estrogen, much like the birth control patch, through the skin to stop the ovaries from releasing an egg every month.

The main ingredient to this gel is Nestorone, a newly developed type of synthetic progesterone very similar to the natural hormone that contains a chemically identical type of estrogen that is produced in a woman’s body. This birth control gel will not cause users to experience common side effects such as nausea and weight gain. Women who are breastfeeding are also able to use the birth control gel because the hormones in the gel will not interfere with the milk supply.

The New York Population Council research center’s director of clinical development of reproductive health, Dr. Ruth Merkatz is the researcher behind the latest study on this birth control gel. Over a seven month period, there were 18 women in the age range from 20 to 40 who had used the birth control gel. So far, none had become pregnant from using the gel. Dr. Ruth Merkatz finds that the birth control gel can improve the choice of methods and options of birth control for women.

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August 25, 2010

The Pill is the Most Used Contraceptive

Filed under: birth control methods — Tags: birth control effects, birth control methods, Birth Control Pill, birth control types — Candace @ 1:16 pm

The pill is one of the safest and most effective methods of birth control. At a success rate of nearly 100 percent the pill is the most commonly used contraceptive in the world. The oral contraceptive has always been the most popular contraceptive for females due to its easy and painless use. From an interview of conducted on 7, 3536 women it was discovered that 99 percent of women use at least one type of contraceptive for intercourse. Condoms are the most popularly used form of contraceptive for women having intercourse for the first time. In this interview it was also found that of those females with a male partner, 93 percent of the men used a condom, 82 percent of the women used birth control pills, and 53 percent of couples used the withdrawal method.

The pill works by stopping the hormones that activate ovulation by providing an extra dose of estrogen. This prevents the release of an egg. Not only this, but it also thickens the cervical mucus, making the strenuous trek for sperm even harder. The pill must be taken daily for optimum results.

Because many women forget to take the pill on a daily basis, there have been recently created iPod and iPhone applications that help by providing a daily reminder in the form of an alarm. As well as this you can also try using an online calendar, a alarm set on your phone, a note on your desk, or other simple reminders to take the pill.

The pill has been the most commonly used form of contraceptive for 2 years now and will hopefully be continually used in the future despite new, more complex methods being discovered in the medical world.

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July 29, 2010

Study Unveils Little Known Side Effect of Birth Control

Filed under: birth control,Birth Control Side Effects — Tags: birth control, birth control effects, Birth Control Pill — Nicole @ 3:43 pm

birth control side effects, birth control effects A recently conducted study has found that birth control can distort a woman’s ability to find the perfect mate. The attraction between a man and a woman is based on several factors other than physical appearance and personality, that are rooted in the biological processes of the human body. One of these basic biological processes is the human sense of smell’s perception of the other person’s body odor, specifically in the aromatic molecules of the body’s scent, which indicate genetic compatibility, through the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes.

Biologically, humans are programmed to select the best mates in order to provide a diverse set of genes for their offspring, to build a strong immune system, which allows them to be the fittest of their generation and promotes their prospects of survival. The greatest attraction that is indicated through body odor is in couples who have widely different MHC genes, which in turn contributes to more genetic compatibility, satisfaction and even faithfulness.

The findings of this study have proven that women taking birth control have a distorted sense of smell, causing attraction to men with similar aromatic molecules. This is because birth control pills create a hormonally pregnant state in a woman’s body, and in doing so shuts off their need for a man with opposite MHC genes, as biologically speaking, the woman is not in need of a mate. The misperception of a perfect mate for a woman could lead to a multitude of problems, as couples with similar MHC odors are often subjected to more fertility and fidelity problems throughout the course of a relationship, because once the woman stops taking the pill, both parties tend to perceive their partners in a different manner, and as a result, their relationship completely falls apart.

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