Combined oral contraceptives In the UK combined oral contraceptives (COCs), containing both oestrogen and progestogen, are the most popular method of contraception for women under age 30. The most common oestrogen used is ethinyl estradiol (EE), in doses between 20 and 35μg. Progestogens are classified according to their steroid structure and the timing of their introduction on to the market. T...

Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care 2003: 29(4) What is combined oral contraception (COC)? Combined oral contraception (COC) is the most commonly used contraceptive method by women aged 16 to 49 years.2 This Guidance provides evidence-based recommendations and good practice points for clinicians advising women considering their first prescription of COC. A holistic approach ...

Systemic treatment is required in patients with moderate-to-severe acne, especially when acne scars start to occur. Antibiotics with anti-inflammatory properties, such as tetracyclines (oxytetracycline, tetracycline chloride, doxycycline, minocycline and limecycline) and macrolide antibiotics (erythromycin and azithromycin) are the agents of choice for papulopustular acne, even though the emerg...

©FSRH J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care 2009: 35(3) Background There is no doubt that the combined oral contraceptive pill (COC) has revolutionised and changed women’s lives for the better. With the discovery of progestogens in the 1940s/1950s, and the realisation that the accidental addition of synthetic estrogen [mestranol – the inactive precursor of ethinylestradiol (EE)] improved bleeding patt...

OBJECTIVES Evidence is accumulating that progestogens may play a crucial role in the development of breast cancer under contraception and hormone therapy in reproductive and menopausal women. Progesterone receptor membrane component 1 (PGRMC1) expressed in breast cancer may be important in tumorigenesis and thus may increase breast cancer risk. The aim of this project was to investigate the inf...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the impact of a 91-day extended regimen combined oral contraceptive (150 μg levonorgestrel [LNG]/30 μg ethinylestradiol [EE] for 84 days, followed by 10 μg EE for seven days [Treatment 1]) compared with two traditional 21/7 regimens (21 days 150 μg LNG/30 μg EE [Treatment 2] or 150 μg desogestrel [DSG]/30 μg EE [Treatment 3], both with seven days' hormone free), on severa...

The aim. Minimization of the frequency recurrence endometrial hyperplasia (EH) in women reproductive age with overweight (OW) depending on tactics treatment.
 Materials and methods. 90 OW were selected. They, turn, divided into three groups: group 1 – 30 who took a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRH agonist), namely at dose 3.75 mg intramuscularly once every 28 days; 2 used proge...

The classic literature on voice disorders considers birth-control-pills as a risk factor. This view is based on reports of adverse androgenic effects (i.e., virilization) dated in the 1960's and 1970's. Since then, voice professionals often advise women, and especially professional voice-users, against the use of oral contraceptives. However, a series of recent studies (Amir et al. 2002, 2003a,...