When oral contraceptives are mentioned, the immediate reaction of many people is that they have a lot of side effects from hormone therapy, and then they ask a series of questions: Will they increase weight and gain weight? Will it affect menstrual cycles? Will it affect future pregnancies? Is it teratogenic to the next generation? Is it safe to take long-term? Is it carcinogenic? Can it cause blood clots, strokes and other cardiovascular diseases?
The world’s first oral contraceptive pill, Enovid, has been marketed in the United States for more than 50 years since 1960. Since oral contraceptives have reduced unwanted pregnancies in women and greatly reduced the incidence of abortion and ectopic pregnancies, which seriously affect women’s physical and mental health, they are soon being used worldwide. Many women worry about the problem, in fact, after more than 50 years of research and development, the composition and dosage of compounded oral contraceptives have been continuously improved, and a large number of domestic and foreign studies have concluded that long-term oral contraceptives are safe.
Conclusion 1: The risk of arterial and venous thrombosis with oral contraceptives is higher than that of non-users, but much lower than the risk during pregnancy/delivery and is a rare event. The risk of thrombosis is associated with age, obesity, smoking, pregnancy/delivery/postpartum, family history/personal history, altered coagulation mechanisms, metabolic syndrome, post-traumatic braking, lack of exercise, and genetic factors.
Conclusion 2: Long-term use of oral contraceptives reduces the risk of ovarian cancer, uterine corpus, rectal cancer, and The analysis of 45 studies of ovarian cancer epidemiology by the International Cooperation concluded that the duration of contraceptive use was negatively associated with the incidence of ovarian cancer. The risk of ovarian cancer continued to decrease even after 30 years of discontinuation. Reduced risk of uterine corpus cancer. The preventive effect on uterine corpus cancer increased with increasing duration of use. It was maintained for at least 20 years after discontinuation. There was no difference between oral contraceptives and unused contraceptives for the occurrence of breast cancer.
Conclusion 3: Currently, oral contraceptives used both domestically and internationally can be used for pregnancy after discontinuation without waiting for 3-6 months. There is a delay in the return of fertility, but it does not increase the incidence of infertility. There is no significant teratogenic effect on the offspring. The risk of congenital malformations of the fetus in pregnancy during oral contraceptives or accidental administration of contraceptives during early pregnancy is not higher than in the general population of women, because the first 2 weeks of embryonic development, (4 weeks of menopause) without organ development, and 3-8 weeks of gestation may be teratogenic.
Conclusion 4: In addition to contraception, the oral contraceptive pill has many additional benefits not known to everyone, such as.
1. it can regulate the menstrual cycle, reduce the volume of menstruation, treat excessive menstruation and give you more refreshing days each month.
2. it can relieve PMS: depression, insomnia, headache, edema, irritability, etc.
3. can relieve dysmenorrhea and treat endometriosis, giving you more relaxed those days of the month.
4. It can treat polycystic ovary syndrome; these patients are often obese, have facial acne, hirsutism, scanty menstruation or even amenorrhea, and infertility. Oral short-acting contraceptives can make you more free from weight gain and keep a slim figure. Certain contraceptives containing cyproterone, such as Daing-35, also have the effect of reducing androgens to treat acne, seborrheic dermatitis, knock back acne and give you perfect skin.
5, reduce pelvic congestion, reduce the occurrence of pelvic inflammatory disease, away from gynecological diseases.
In recent years Eusemide is the first oral contraceptive containing drospirenone (closest to natural progesterone), safe and effective for long-term application, good menstrual cycle control, does not affect future fertility, does not increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, no change in blood pressure. It also improves skin symptoms of androgen action, controls weight, controls water and sodium retention, and relieves PMS symptoms, making it the first choice for routine contraception in healthy women.
With so many benefits for women’s health, oral combination short-acting contraceptives are not available to all women and are contraindicated in the following situations.
1. known or suspected pregnancy.
2. lactation.
3. unexplained vaginal bleeding.
4. Known or suspected breast cancer or suffering from hormone-dependent malignancy.
5. active venous or arterial thromboembolic disease in the last six months.
6. severe liver disease.
7, hematoporphyria, otosclerosis, meningioma.
8, uncontrolled diabetes mellitus and severe hypertension.
9, gallbladder disease, epilepsy, migraine, asthma, hyperprolactinemia.
10, systemic lupus erythematosus, etc.
Some cases need to be applied after communication with the doctor, such as
1, those with uterine fibroids.
2, those with hyperlipidemia and a tendency to thrombosis
3. Those who have benign breast disease and family history of breast cancer.
Although the emergency contraceptive pill can also act as a contraceptive by delaying or inhibiting ovulation, inhibiting fertilization or preventing the fertilized egg from being laid. However, because it may cause amenorrhea, menstrual disorders, especially some people repeatedly take it within a month, it will lead to irregular vaginal bleeding, easy to secondary infection and pelvic inflammatory disease and increased bleeding, so it is not recommended to use the emergency contraceptive pill as a regular contraceptive method, but only as a remedy after unprotected sex.