“Birth control pills, huh?! Doctor, is it safe?” As soon as they hear their doctor tell them to take oral contraceptives, many patients immediately blurt out this question. In everyone’s mind, oral contraceptives are hormonal, can make you fat, can cause breast cancer, and can cause all kinds of adverse reactions, however, is this really true? In fact, oral contraceptives are one of the most widely used and safest drugs in the world. Besides contraception, they have many benefits that can effectively improve the quality of a woman’s life. Proper and effective use of oral contraceptives can even reduce the overall tumor incidence in women and improve survival rates. Today, let me talk to you about the benefits of oral contraceptives. What are oral contraceptives? Oral contraceptives are short-acting medications containing low doses of estrogen and progestin that are taken continuously to inhibit ovulatory function and provide effective contraception. In addition to protecting women’s reproductive health and their right to choose their own fertility, oral contraceptives have many benefits beyond contraception. The oral contraceptive pill was one of the most important inventions of the 20th century, with the world’s first single-progestin oral contraceptive pill introduced in 1933 and the world’s first estrogen-containing combination oral contraceptive pill introduced in 1960. In the short span of 50 years since then, oral contraceptives have been updated to include more and more efficient progestins, less and less estrogen, a dosing regimen that is closer to the normal physiological cycle, and fewer and fewer adverse reactions. In short, it is getting better and better. The most common type of oral contraceptive on the market today is the Combined Oral Contraceptive Pills (COC), which contains low doses of estrogen and progestin. This is what we are going to talk about today. What are COCs? There are many kinds of COCs, some of the most common varieties in China include Mafulong, Mecinlab, Mintin even, Eusemide, Eusemide and so on. There is also Daimler-35 which is more commonly used by dermatologists to treat skin lesions such as acne and hirsutism. These oral contraceptives work in a similar way, each with its own characteristics. Mafron has the most prominent price advantage. Eusebio is a sister to Eusebio, except that the duration of continuous dosing has been extended from 21 to 24 days, which can better maintain blood levels and avoid irregular bleeding. What are the benefits of COC? In addition to effective contraception, there are many additional benefits of oral contraceptives, let me explain slowly: Adjustment of menstrual cycle and treatment of abnormal uterine bleeding Many abnormal uterine bleeding is caused by ovarian ovulatory dysfunction, for such patients, COC can be safely used to control bleeding and adjust menstrual cycle, provided other organic pathologies are excluded. Especially in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome, more and more young women are now suffering from polycystic ovary syndrome due to factors such as improved standard of living, change in diet and lack of exercise. If no intervention is made, not only may there be heavy bleeding causing severe anemia, but it may even lead to abnormal endometrial hyperplasia or even cancer. Oral contraceptives can both effectively adjust the menstrual cycle and effectively protect the endometrium by taking them periodically, and can inhibit the ineffective ovulation of the ovaries to effectively protect ovarian function, so that when you plan to have children in the future, you can try to conceive in the first cycle after stopping oral contraceptives. Relief of premenstrual syndrome symptoms Before menstruation due to hormonal effects, many women experience anxiety, headache, breast tenderness and other discomforts. For this type of premenstrual syndrome, although COC is not a first-line drug, oral contraceptives containing drospirenone (Eusebio or Eusebio) can often provide effective relief if selective pentazocine inhibitor treatment is not effective. Skin acne and hirsutism Acne and hirsutism are mostly associated with abnormally high levels of androgens in the body. Acne on the face and dark, dense sweaty hair on the arms are a nightmare for many young, beautiful girls. Don’t worry, there are oral contraceptives to help you! Basically all progestin-containing oral contraceptives have effective therapeutic effects, the most used at present is Daing-35, as the cyproterone acetate it contains has a strong anti-androgen effect. It should be noted that since the appearance of skin lesions is not an overnight result, treatment is also a long-term project, usually requiring more than 6 months of treatment before results appear. So, don’t worry young girls, even if you are not married and your doctor prescribes you oral contraceptives, we are doing this to make the girl more beautiful. Dysmenorrhea and chronic pelvic pain Dysmenorrhea is a common symptom that affects a woman’s quality of life. Many causes can contribute to dysmenorrhea, including endometriosis, adenomyosis, etc. Ovulation is an important reason for the occurrence of dysmenorrhea. Oral contraceptives can relieve dysmenorrhea by inhibiting ovulation and reducing menstrual flow. In addition, the frequency of menstrual flow can be reduced by taking 2-3 cycles of oral contraceptives in a row under the guidance of a doctor to reduce the occurrence of dysmenorrhea. For chronic pelvic pain, COC is more about reducing the occurrence of chronic pelvic pain due to inflammation by preventing abortion and reducing the chance of pelvic inflammatory infection. Treatment and prevention of endometriosis and adenomyosis Endometriosis and adenomyosis are estrogen-dependent diseases, COC contains very low levels of estrogen and can prevent endometriosis by lowering estrogen levels in the body, especially for women without fertility requirements, after surgical endometrioid cyst removal. Oral contraceptive pills can be used to prevent endometriosis after surgical removal of endometrioid cysts, especially in women who do not have fertility requirements. COC is also effective in reducing menstrual flow and treating dysmenorrhea, as many adenomyosis cases are associated with dysmenorrhea and excessive menstrual flow. A large-scale population survey found that COC can reduce the absolute risk of malignant tumors in women by about 10-45 per 100,000 woman-years, with a clear reduction in the risk of ovarian, endometrial and colorectal cancers. For breast cancer, which is a major concern, there appears to be an increased risk of occurrence, but it does not reach a statistical difference. Rather, there was an increase in the incidence of cervical cancer. In this regard, we say that for cervical cancer prevention, condoms should be a better choice. Do oral contraceptives affect fertility? Of course not. The correct use of oral contraceptives is up to 99% effective in preventing pregnancy. This effectively prevents the occurrence of unwanted pregnancies including ectopic pregnancies and reduces the occurrence of various complications and pelvic infections due to abortion. At the same time, the powerful menstrual regulation function of oral contraceptives can prevent the occurrence of diseases such as abnormal endometrial hyperplasia mentioned earlier. In short, it protects your reproductive function in all aspects of 360 degrees. Oral contraceptives are short-acting agents that are quickly metabolized and cleared by the body. Therefore, you can get pregnant in the second month after you stop using oral contraceptives. Oral contraceptives themselves have no risk of causing fetal malformation, and even if they are inadvertently taken during early pregnancy, they do not increase the risk of fetal malformation. Will the oral contraceptive pill make me fat? This is a question that many girls worry about. In fact, there is no need to be so nervous, the oral contraceptive pill itself will not lead to weight gain, but it is true that some people have a great appetite after taking oral contraceptive pills, and if they can not control this mouth, they will really gain weight. Therefore, a healthy lifestyle and diet is the killer app for weight control. Of course, you can try Eusebio or Eusebio, which have almost no effect on weight. I have fibroids and lobular enlargement of the breast, is it safe to take oral contraceptives? Don’t worry, these are benign conditions and are not a problem. Oral contraceptives do not cause lobular hyperplasia of the breast to become cancerous, and in the case of fibroids, they may make the fibroids grow slightly, but they do not cause them to become malignant. So having these benign diseases does not affect the use of oral contraceptives. Can young, unmarried women take oral contraceptives? Of course they can. For these beauties, the purpose of oral contraceptives is not to prevent pregnancy, but to regulate the menstrual cycle or to treat problems such as acne. Of course, to emphasize the point, it must be taken under the supervision of a doctor. If I take oral contraceptives, what do I need to be aware of? First of all, you should have adequate consultation before taking oral contraceptives and use them under the guidance of a doctor, provided that the corresponding contraindications are excluded. Although COC is over-the-counter and readily available in pharmacies, if you use it for non-contraceptive purposes, you should always take it under the guidance of a doctor, and never take it for yourself. Secondly, oral contraceptives are hormonal drugs, once you start taking them, you must take them every day on time, never miss a dose, otherwise it will cause fluctuations in the body’s hormone levels, such as irregular bleeding and other headaches. Thirdly, during the period of taking oral contraceptives, regular medical checkups are usually sufficient and no special checkups or follow-ups are needed. However, if you need to stop or switch to oral contraceptives; or if you experience uncomfortable symptoms while taking the pill, such as breast milk production, abnormally large breast nodules, headaches, etc., you must seek medical attention promptly. How long can I take oral contraceptives? In healthy women, oral contraceptives can be taken until menopause. One thing to remind you here is that the most serious adverse effect of oral contraceptives is thrombosis, and the risk of thrombosis is highest in the first three months of taking oral contraceptives or in the first three months after starting again after stopping taking them, and gradually decreases as you continue taking them for a longer period of time. Therefore, it is recommended that if you start taking oral contraceptives, it is safer to continue using them. What kinds of conditions prevent the use of oral contraceptives? The biggest risk of oral contraceptives is thrombosis, which means that the blood in your blood vessels clots. For example, the formation of a clot in the brain or heart can cause a brain infarction or myocardial infarction, and if the clot is dislodged from a large blood vessel, it can cause a pulmonary embolism with a very high mortality rate. But don’t worry, as long as we correctly recognize the possible risks of oral contraceptives and identify people at risk for blood clots to avoid taking oral contraceptives. The risk of blood clots from oral contraceptives is extremely low in a normal healthy population, and the benefits of using oral contraceptives far outweigh the possible risks. The following people are not suitable for using oral contraceptives: smokers with serious cardiovascular disease or rheumatic disease, people with high risk of thrombosis, people with migraine, people with combined diabetes, hyperlipidemia, liver disease, people with a history of breast cancer or people who are currently suffering from breast cancer.