Topic:
Women's Health

As women search for safe and effective means of birth control, clinicians are challenged to keep abreast of emerging developments in contraceptive choices. Combined oral contraceptives now offer better cycle control, are effective at lower dosing levels, and trigger fewer adverse effects.

Oral Contraceptives

Since they first became available in the 1960s, oral contraceptives (OCs) have been widely used by US women. Their popularity has been credited to their reliability, convenience, relative safety, low incidence of adverse effects, and limited contraindications. Initially, combined oral contraceptives (COCs -- that is, those containing both estrogen and progestins) contained as much as 150 mg of estrogen. The early, high-dose pills of the 1960s posed significant health risks, including deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, stroke, and myocardial infarction.

Today, typical contraceptive doses are considered safer and casual studies revealed a decrease in adverse effects.The contraceptives most commonly known are :

• ORTHO TRI-CYCLEN Introduced in 1992, is the only oral contraceptive cleared in the U.S. for the treatment of moderate acne vulgaris in women 15 years of age or older, who have no known contraindication to oral ocntraceptive therapy, who desire contraception, who have begun menstruation and who are unresponsive to topical anti-acne medications. It is also indicated for the prevention of pregnancy in women who elect to use oral contraceptives as a method of contraception.
• NORDETTE pills contain two active ingredients (levonorgestrel and ethinyloestradiol) that can stop you from beginning pregnant if taken correctly. They are similar to hormones your body normally produces.
• TRIPHASIL and OVRAL are oral contraceptives. TRIPHASIL and OVRAL pills contain two active ingredients (levonorgestrel and ethinyloestradiol) that can stop you from becoming pregnant if taken correctly. They are similar to hormones your body normally produces.