Contraceptive Pills And Side Effects
Posted by admin on January 25th, 2009Oral contraceptives (OCs) first became available to American women in the early 1960s. The convenience, effectiveness, and reversibility of action of birth control pills (popularly known as “the pill”) have made them the most popular form of birth control in the United States. However, concerns have been raised about contraceptive pills and side effects, and the role that the hormones in OCs might play in a number of cancers, and how hormone-based OCs contribute to their development.
As early as 1961, suspicions arose in the United States and England that the pill might predispose some women to heart attack and stroke. Evidence of blood clotting had been reported in a few women taking the pill. Blood clots can cause life-threatening heart attacks and strokes.
In 1965, spurred by further reports, FDA awarded a research contract to a scientist at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health to investigate exactly how widespread the problem was.
At the same time, the agency established its first advisory committee–the Advisory Committee on Obstetrics and Gynecology–to review contraceptive products and to find out what effect, if any, oral contraceptives had on blood clotting. The committee was also directed to review existing data for clues to the pill’s potential to cause cancer of the breast, cervix and endometrium.
In 1966, the advisory committee reported that it found “no adequate scientific data, at this time, to prove the pill unsafe for human use.”
As for cancer, the advisory committee concluded the pill hadn’t been in use long enough to draw valid conclusions about its carcinogenic effects. For example, it would be at least another 10 years before the risk of uterine cancer could be accurately assessed. It wasn’t until some years later that scientists had gathered enough information to give a true picture of the contraceptive pills and side effects it might produce.
By 1968, amid further reports of blood clots and new evidence from British studies showing an increased incidence of blood clots among women taking the pill, FDA added information about the results of those studies to the product labeling for oral contraceptives. A year later, the agency again revised the labeling, this time to include the results of U.S. studies that supported the British findings.
In the early 1970s, the “mini-pill,” an oral contraceptive containing only progestin, was introduced. Unlike the estrogen-progestin pill, which works primarily by suppressing ovulation, the mini-pill works by creating changes in the cervix and uterus that make it difficult for sperm to unite with an egg. Since mini-pills contain no estrogen, they pose few of the risks associated with the combination pill. However, mini-pills have two drawbacks: They cause irregular bleeding in some women, and they have proven to be less effective in preventing pregnancy. As a result, their use has been limited.
Today’s oral contraceptives are considerably safer than the pill of the ’60s because they contain less estrogen and progestin.
The risks of blood clots, heart attacks, and stroke have decreased correspondingly for healthy, non-smoking women. There is a slightly increased risk of cardiovascular disease for women over 40 who use the pill, but the benefits of contraception are considered to outweigh the risk in
most women.
Todays contraceptive pills and side effects steming from it are less of a worry as most of these side effects are not medically serious. The most common are nausea, breakthrough bleeding (bleeding between menstrual periods), and mood changes, including depression. Some women may also experience weight gain, breast tenderness, and difficulty wearing contact lenses due to eye dryness. These side effects, especially nausea, usually subside within the first three months of use. Todays contraceptive pills and side effects steming from it are less of a worry as most.