Tag: contraception

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Continuous Oral Contraceptive Pills Offer Women Earlier Pain Relief

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HERSHEY –Taking oral contraceptives continuously, rather than as traditionally prescribed for each cycle, provides earlier relief for moderate to severe menstrual cramps — dysmenorrhea — according to researchers at Penn State College of Medicine.

Dysmenorrhea occurs during menstruation, resulting from abnormal uterine contractions, increased sensitivity to pain and added pressure in the pelvic area. It is often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache and fatigue.

“Between 50 and 90 percent of women suffer from this condition, and it can really limit work, school, or athletic performance,” said Dr. Richard Legro, professor of obstetrics and gynecology. “Previous studies have estimated that dysmenorrhea accounts for 600 million lost work hours and $2 billion annually.”

Participants in this study suffered from unexplained menstrual pain. Their pain was not attributable to previous surgeries, ovarian cysts, endometriosis, or other pelvic or bowel diseases. Results were published in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

“Oral contraceptives are often prescribed to treat this condition, since reducing menstruation is a relatively straightforward way to relieve this cramping,” said Legro. “However, we wanted to determine whether there was a measurable difference between cyclic and continuous oral contraceptive treatment methods.” Read full article.

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WHO approves coil as emergency contraceptive

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NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 7 – The World Health Organisation (WHO) has now recommended the use of Copper-bearing intrauterine devices (IUD’s) as an emergency contraception.

It says if inserted within five days of unprotected sex, an IUD which is also a regular contraception method can be up to 99 percent effective in preventing pregnancy following sexual assault, incorrect use of contraceptives or unprotected sex.

“This is the most effective form of emergency contraception available,” says the WHO.

It says once inserted, a woman can continue to use the IUD as an ongoing method of contraception and may choose to change to another contraceptive method in future.

“This may be an ideal emergency contraceptive for a woman who is hoping for an ongoing, highly effective contraceptive method,” WHO says in its website.

It says as an emergency contraception, IUD’s primarily prevent fertilisation by causing a chemical change that damages sperm and egg before they can meet.

“A copper bearing IUD is a very safe form of emergency contraception. The risks of infection, expulsion or perforation are low.”

However, the global health body has cautioned that IUD’s are not to be used if a woman is already pregnant. It adds that there are other contraindications to using a copper bearing IUD as ongoing contraception which should also be considered before its use as emergency contraception. Read full article.

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More Women Choosing IUD’s

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(Reuters) – A growing number of U.S. women appear to be opting for intrauterine devices (IUDs) as their birth control method, with the number more than doubling in just two years in one study.

Researchers, whose findings were published in the journal Fertility & Sterility, said this is good news, since IUDs and contraceptive implants are the most effective forms of reversible birth control.

But in the United States they are still far from popular, with use lagging well behind birth control pills and condoms.

The study found that in 2009, 8.5 percent of U.S. women using birth control chose an IUD or implant, with the large majority going with the IUD. That was up from just under four percent in 2007.

“We saw some pretty notable growth,” said lead researcher Lawrence B. Finer of the Guttmacher Institute in New York, a sexual and productive health organization.

In France and Norway, about one-quarter of women on birth control use IUDs or implants, and in China 41 percent, Finer’s team said.

Read full article.

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Congressman links contraception mandate to 9/11, Pearl Harbor Day

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(CBS News) Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., an ardent opponent of the contraception mandate that went into effect Wednesday, is comparing the beginning of the mandate to the attacks on Pearl Harbor and the September 11 terrorist attacks.

“I know in your mind you can think of the times that America was attacked,” Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., said during a news conference. “One is December 7th, that’s Pearl Harbor Day; the other is September 11th and that’s the day of a terrorist attack. I want you to remember August the first 2012 the attack on our religious freedom. That is the date that will live in infamy along with those other dates.”

“Today is the day that religious freedom died,” Kelly said.

Read full article.

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The IUD: What Does Your Doc Know That You Don’t?

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Few U.S. women choose intrauterine devices, or IUDs, for contraception — a recent study found they rank No. 5 in use, behind oral contraceptives, tubal ligation, condoms and vasectomies.

But IUD use is much more common among one group of women: gynecologists. According to a poll released by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), use of IUDs by female ob-gyns is three times greater than that of the general public.

If the women who are, presumably, the most knowledgeable about reproductive health are choosing IUDs more often than the rest of us, then what is it our gynecologists know that most women don’t?

Why gynecologists love IUDs

IUDs are an excellent birth control option because they are effective, safe and easy to use, said Dr. Sara Pentlicky, a gynecologist and family planning specialist at the University of Pennsylvania.

While some women can’t use estrogen-containing birth control because of health issues, “there are very few women who can’t use an IUD,” Pentlicky said. She estimated that 80 percent of the female doctors in her practice use IUDs for their own contraception.

IUDs have to be inserted by a doctor, but once in place, they are effective immediately and can protect against pregnancy for five to 12 years, depending on the type.

Unlike birth control pills, which require that users remember to take them on a daily basis, IUDs need little to no maintenance. They are nearly 99 percent effective, according to a study published in May in the New England Journal of Medicine.

IUDs also differ from birth control pills in that women have a greater chance of becoming pregnant immediately after stopping use.

In the U.S., there are two IUDs available — ParaGard, a copper, hormone-free device that can protect against pregnancy for up to 12 years, and Mirena, which releases small amounts of a synthetic progestin hormone and can be effective for up to 5 years.

“With ParaGard, you don’t actually stop ovulating like you do with the pill, so when I take it out, you should be able to get pregnant the next month without any trouble,” Pentlicky said.

Read full article.

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Birth Control Mandate Survives States Lawsuit

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Seven U.S. states lost their federal court bid to block a government mandate requiring religious organizations to offer their employees insurance coverage for birth-control.

U.S. District Judge Warren K. Urbom in Lincoln, Nebraska, ruled yesterday that Catholic schools, organizations and individuals cited by the states lack standing to challenge the rule.

Even if they did, the judge said, the contraceptive requirements are “not being forced against non-exempted religious organizations, and the rule is currently undergoing a process of amendment to accommodate these organizations,” Urbom wrote. The states that sued “face no direct and immediate harm, and one can only speculate whether the plaintiffs will ever feel any effects from the rule,” he said.

Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning filed the complaint in February, claiming that the requirement violates free exercise of religion and freedom of speech rights. Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas joined the case.

Read full article.

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Why Birth Control Matters for the American Dream

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Unwed mothers are now more likely to slip down the economic ladder than ever before.

Melinda Gates was lauded for her bravery last week in stating her unequivocal support for contraception, especially for women in developing countries. She’s right, of course, that family planning saves lives, but it’s odd that a public embrace of contraception still makes headlines when more than 98% of American women have used contraception at some point in their lives. The problem, unfortunately, is that many Americans aren’t using contraception at the right point in their lives, and this oversight is especially common in the people who need it most: women who want a piece of the American Dream.

This is dangerous ground. No one wants to suggest that certain women shouldn’t have babies. But the hard truth is that certain women shouldn’t have babies if they aspire to a middle-class life.

To suggest that some women should delay (or forswear) having children harks back to the old “population bomb” anxiety of the 1960s, when the Town & Country set seemed to embrace procontraception policies in part to keep “riffraff” from solidifying their tenuous perch on the socioeconomic ladder. The history of contraception advocacy in the early 20th century carried a nasty stink of eugenics that continues to make a lot of people understandably uneasy. But that unease shouldn’t keep us from facing reality. Births to financially insecure single women who aspire to middle-class life are a hindrance to upward mobility.

Read full article.

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Study Says Meeting Contraception Needs Could Sink Maternal Death Rate

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A new study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University shows that fulfilling unmet contraception demand by women in developing countries could reduce global maternal mortality by nearly a third, a potentially great improvement for one of the world’s most vulnerable populations.

The study, published on Tuesday in The Lancet, a British science journal, comes ahead of a major family planning conference in London organized by the British government and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that is an attempt to refocus attention on the issue. It has faded from the international agenda in recent years, overshadowed by efforts to combat AIDS and other infectious diseases, as well as by ideological battles.

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Gates Foundation to Pledge Funds for Contraception

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(Reuters) – The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is set to unveil funding a sum in the hundreds of millions of dollars for a campaign to improve access to contraception in the developing world.

The exact amount will be announced at a summit of world leaders and aid organizations in London on Wednesday, but in an interview with Reuters, Melinda Gates said the commitment would be “on a par” with the foundation’s other big programs, like that against malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis.

In January, the foundation pledged a further $750 million for that fight on top of $650 million contributed since the fund was set up 10 years ago.

The aim of the London Summit on Family Planning is to raise $4 billion to expand access to contraception for 120 million women in the developing world by 2020.

According to United Nations figures, about 220 million women in the developing world who do not want to get pregnant, cannot get reliable access to contraception.

“Because we didn’t have contraception or family planning on the agenda we weren’t putting new money into it,” says Gates. “We weren’t saying this is a priority. So this is our moment in time to say this is a priority and we need to fund it.”

Read full article.

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A birth control gel for men lowers sperm count sharply

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A birth control gel for men sharply lowered sperm counts with few side effects, researchers reported Tuesday. The gel, containing testosterone and a synthetic progestin called Nestorone, will require substantially more testing, but it has the potential to become the first effective chemical birth control agent for males.

The male hormone testosterone can turn off the production of reproductive hormones controlling the production of sperm. Progestin, a synthetic hormone similar to the naturally occurring hormone progesterone, can amplify the effects of testosterone. The two have been used together in the past in pills, implants or shots, but progestin has androgenic effects that can produce side effects such as acne and changes in cholesterol levels. Nestorone is a new synthetic progestin, developed by the Population Council, that apparently does not have those side effects.

A team headed by Dr. Christine Wang of the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center enrolled 99 men in a preliminary study of the drug combination. A third of them received a gel containing testosterone and a placebo, which they applied daily for six months. The rest received a gel containing testosterone and one of two concentrations of Nestorone. Fifty-six men completed at least 20 weeks of the study and adhered to the protocol.

Read full article.