BACKGROUND The role of inherited prothrombotic conditions, including factor V Leiden (FV G1691A), prothrombin G20210A, and the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T genotype, in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke is not well established. The effects of these factors may be potentiated by the use of oral contraceptives, analogous to observations in venous thrombosis. METHODS Patie...

Women take oral contraceptives for contraception but also for menstrual dysfunction treatment. This raises the question of whether or not women with menstrual dysfunction are underrepresented in analyses of menstrual function because oral contraceptive users are excluded. To explore this, the authors examined the history of oral contraceptive use among 1322 Black women and White women, aged 35-...

The results of a previous study of the use of oral contraceptives by married women discharged from hospital with a diagnosis of thromboembolic disease in the years 1964-6 were reported by us last year. The present paper adds results relating to patients discharged during 1967 and a few data, that could not be sought previously, for patients discharged with cerebral or coronary thrombosis from t...

Oral contraceptives are classically given in a cyclic manner with 21 days of active pills followed by 7 days of placebo. In the past 4 years, new oral contraceptives have been introduced which either shorten the placebo time, lengthen the active pills (extended cycle), or provide active pills every day (continuous). These concepts are not new; extended and continuous pills were first studied in...

In this review we illustrated the case of a woman who had perimenstrual exacerbations of Darier-White disease. The disease improved markedly with the use of continuously administered oral contraceptives. This striking improvement without side-effects supports the use of oral contraceptives in women with Darier-White disease, although its role should be investigated further using controlled stud...

The volume of the left and right breasts was measured daily in four nulliparous women during normal menstrual cycles and after the use of oral contraceptives. Breast volume increased significantly in the second half of both normal and contraceptive-controlled cycles. The mean total change in volume throughout the cycle was 100 ml under natural conditions and 66 ml on oral contraceptives.