BACKGROUND So far, no-one has attempted to evaluate the overall balance of serious, but not necessarily fatal, disease among a cohort of oral contraceptive users. AIM To emprirically assess the balance of risk of serious illness among a cohort of oral contraceptive users followed up for up to 28 years. METHODS Oral contraceptive-associated serious disease was defined as that which is often ...

BACKGROUND Human papillomavirus (HPV) is believed to be the most important cause of cervical cancer. Recent studies suggest that long duration use of oral contraceptives increases the risk of cervical cancer in HPV positive women. METHODS Results from published studies were combined to examine the relationship between invasive and in situ cervical cancer and duration and recency of use of hor...

BACKGROUND Sub-Saharan Africa reports low use of family planning methods and high unmet need. Availability of these methods is one of the major barriers to contraceptive use in the region. This study determined the availability of modern contraceptives and perceived factors affecting this in health facilities in the Ga East municipality of Ghana. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study invol...

background: polycystic ovary syndrome (pcos) is one of the common endocrine disorders in women of reproductive ages. it is associated with a range of disorders, such as dyslipidemia, hypertension, insulin resistance (ir), compensatory hyperinsulinemia,gestational, and type 2 diabetes, and increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity. there are different treatments available for pcos. the purpose ...

Current low dose OCs are highly effective with an excellent safety profile and many associated health benefits No single product has been shown to be superior in efficacy, safety or tolerability There is no "one size fits all" OC; different women may require different formulations Smoking particularly after age 35 with concurrent OC use greatly increases cardiovascular and thrombotic risks Age ...

BACKGROUND Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrinopathy that affects approximately 10% of reproductive-aged women throughout their lives. Women with PCOS present with heterogeneous symptoms including ovulatory dysfunction, hyperandrogenism, and polycystic ovaries. Therefore, lifelong individualized management should be considered. Pharmacological agents commonly used to manage the symp...

OBJECTIVES To examine, among young women, the association of individual hormonal contraceptives, within two broad groupings, with antidepressant therapy. METHODS In a nationwide register-based study, we examined the prescription rates of antidepressant drugs in relation to individual combined hormonal and progestin-only contraceptives among Swedish women aged 16-31 years (N = 917,993). Drug d...

The use of combined hormonal contraceptives has been reported to increase the level of C-reactive protein (CRP). We assessed the effect of hormonal contraceptive use on inflammatory cytokines including CRP, monocyte chemotactic protein-1, soluble tumor necrosis factor (sTNF), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and soluble CD40 ligand. We used 79 female subjects (19 to 30 years old) who were combined oral co...

Medroxyprogesterone acetate, a pure progestational agent which is not metabolized to oestrogen, was given to 30 women and shown to have no effect on the serum levels of iron, total iron-binding capacity, transferrin, and protein-bound iodine. Eighteen of these women had previously taken oral contraceptives of the combined oestrogen-progestogen "sequential" type, and during that time these serum...

To assess the effect of oral contraceptives on antinuclear antibodies (ANAs), rheumatoid factor (RF), and C-reactive protein (CRP), 3 groups of women were studied: 1) 174 women (ages 16-47) from the time of their initial uses of oral contraceptives, 2) 119 women (ages 17-39) selected from the community at random, and 3) 210 women (ages 17-47) who had been taking oral contraceptives prior to an...