In October 1995, following advice from the Committee on Safety of Medicines, the Department of Health issued a press release concerning the use of seven brands of combined oral contraceptive pills. All pills carry an increased risk of venous thromboembolic events," though the absolute risk is low and considerably less than the health risks associated with an unwanted pregnancy or abortion. Rece...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the motivators and barriers to the use of the combined oral contraceptive pill among Hong Kong women. METHODS The Family Planning Association of Hong Kong commissioned the ESDlife to launch an online survey and invited its female members aged 18 to 45 years who had used contraceptives in the past 12 months to participate in this survey. The online survey was posted on th...

There is a well-documented reduction in endometrial cancer risk with combined oral contraceptive (COC) use. COC use before the first full-term pregnancy may affect breast cancer risk for decades, but this relationship has not been investigated in endometrial cancer. We investigated the risk for endometrial cancer with COC use before the first full-term pregnancy. Cases (n = 524) from a populati...

Combined oral contraceptives (COCs) are highly effective when correctly used but unscheduled bleeding, which occurs fairly commonly during the early months, is disruptive for many women. The mechanisms underlying this bleeding are not fully understood. Several studies have shown that extended-cycle or continuous-use COCs are typically associated with higher initial rates of unscheduled bleeding...

Acne vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the pilosebaceous unit. Recent studies have shown an increasing number of cases of acne in adult women. These cases are predominantly normoandrogenic and have show some clinical differences compared to adolescent acne. In addition to the physical aspects, acne has a strong psychosocial impact and can lead to the onset of signs and sym...

BACKGROUND Extended use of the combined oral contraceptive pill (COC), defined as taking active pills for at least 28 days, has been used in order to avoid bleeding at important times and to treat gynaecological conditions such as endometriosis. We examined the main issues involved in extended use of the COC and how it has evolved from being one of medicine's best-kept secrets to becomin...

BACKGROUND Nomegestrol acetate/17β-estradiol (NOMAC/E(2)) is a new monophasic oral contraceptive combining NOMAC (2.5 mg), a highly selective progesterone-derived progestogen, with E(2) (1.5 mg), which is structurally identical to endogenous estrogen. The objective of this study was to compare the effects on ovarian activity of two different NOMAC/E(2) regimens. METHODS This was a double-blind,...

Chest pain is a rare sign of thoracal endometriosis associated with endometrioma of the tubo-ovarian endometrioma. We report the case periodic episodes of chest pain concurrent with menstruation in a 35-year-old female, in which ovarian endometrioma was diagnosed and left-sided oophorectomy was performed. After surgery, patient underwent medical treatment which included a Gn-RH agonist and a co...

BACKGROUND Attempts to improve the tolerability of combined oral contraceptives (COCs) have included the substitution of ethinylestradiol (EE) with 17beta-estradiol (E2). However, this has proved unsatisfactory, specifically in terms of cycle control. To improve upon the poor cycle control seen previously, E2 [in the form of estradiol valerate (E2V); 1 mg of E2V contains 0.76 mg of E2] was comb...

SYNOPSIS Samples of vaginal secretions of 'normal' women were examined over a period of up to two years. Patients with asymptomatic candidiasis on one occasion were more likely to have Candida albicans again when sampled a year later than were women with no yeasts on the first occasion. This principle applied also to /3-haemolytic streptococci of Lancefield's groups B and D. There was no signif...