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March 2014 | Read this issue and more at www.healthandwellnessmagazine.net |
Contraceptives
By Angela S. Hoover,
Staff Writer
The average woman has about
40 years of fertility. The majority of
women only want to get pregnant
two to four times within their lives,
and some wish not to at all.
The annual rate of conception
when no contraceptives are used
is 85 percent. We enjoy an unprecedented amount of contraceptive
options today but that doesn’t mean
everyone is fully informed, and
memories of past problems with
some contraceptives persist. Here
are more details on common and
newer contraceptives.
Hormonal
Treatments & Risk
An increased risk of blood clots
is always a factor with any estrogenbased therapy. How risky this is will
vary for each woman. A PT/INR
(Prothrombin Time/International
Normalized Ratio) blood test can
measure how long it takes the blood
to clot, which can help a woman
and her doctor analyze the risk.
ception rate. An IUD provides contraception for 5 years with only a 1
percent failure rate. Non-hormonal
IUDs use copper ions to neutralize sperm. The hormonal version
decreases menstrual symptoms and
increases the contraceptive efficacy
by releasing a micro-dose of progestin. IUDs used to be problematic in
America due to a design flaw which
required a string for removal that
created a home for bacteria. Europe,
on the other hand, had uninterrupted success with IUD design and
American researchers eventually
mimicked European models.
Implants are highly effective
contraceptives but they rely on the
systematic dose of hormones. A
small device that releases hormones
is implanted under the skin. The
implant is effective in preventing
pregnancy for up to three years
but does nothing to protect against
STDs. Periods are fewer and lighter
and 30 percent of women have no
more bleeding periods, which is a
sign of total efficacy. Some women
have irregular bleeding for the
first 6-12 months, and experience
a change in appetite, depression,
headache, nausea, nervousness,
sore breasts, weight gain, dizziness,
pregnancy symptoms, hair loss, and
a lethargic feeling.
Most Effective
Methods: Less Than
1 Pregnancy Per 100 Very Effective
Women Annually
Methods: 2-9
Intrauterine devices (IUDs) are
Pregnancies Per 100
T-shaped plastic devices inserted in
Women Annually
the uterus, preventing fertilization.
IUDs are the fastest growing contraceptive choice, with a 1 in 500 con-
The Pill is still 99.9 percent effective at preventing pregnancy when
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that happens four times a year. Not
all women’s bodies react the same
to the Shot, so side effects vary
widely.
NuvaRing is a small ring inserted
into the vagina once a month for
three weeks. It releases estrogen
and progestin. Like the Patch, the
Ring is not used during the fourth
week. Certain medications and
supplements make NuvaRing less
effective. Some women using a Ring
have reported lower levels of sexual
desire and arousal. Unfortunately, it
is easy to make a mistake inserting
the Ring, and it can easily slip out
of place in some women. Compared
to women who used the Pill, those
who used the Ring generally had
fewer side effects but Ring users
had more vaginal infections. Blood
clots are nearly twice as likely as
with the Pill.
taken correctly. It may lower the
risk of some cancers and it can keep
a woman’s period light and regular.
Some versions may even clear up
skin problems. However, the Pill
can also lower a woman’s libido. It
is suspected that birth control pills
inhibit the production of hormones,
especially testosterone, which
can have a direct effect on the sex
drive. Fortunately, there are nonhormonal versions of the Pill that
may eliminate this ironic side effect.
Although early versions caused
weight gain, new research strongly
indicates that neither hormonal nor
non-hormonal modern birth control pills do.
The Ortho Evra Patch is a thin,
beige, plastic patch applied to the
skin once a week for three weeks
followed by one week with no
patch. The Patch releases estrogen
and progestin. Research shows
more women stop using the Patch
due to side effects as compared to
the Pill. Overall, Patch users experienced more breast discomfort,
menstrual problems and nausea. On
the other hand, it was found that
women used the Patch more consistently and correctly than they did
the Pill. In 2007 and 2008 the FDA
and the European equivalent, EMA,
warned that the Patch m ^H[