The article by Potts et al, “The Pill is Mightier than the Sword,” points out that family planning has an important role to play in building peace by increasing women’s empowerment and their agency, ultimately helping peacebuilding efforts. Evidence has demonstrated that family planning programs are cost effective, produce quick results, help women and couples meet their desired fertility level...

“The future is not likely to be dull”. This statement, made by the Family Planning Association (now known as fpa) in 19601 when it launched the first UK trial of the oral contraceptive pill, proved to be more than accurate! Four decades on from the introduction of ‘the Pill’ in 1961 (1960 in the US), history graphically illustrates how oral contraception not only revolutionised the field of bir...

Background Long-term antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence is critical for achieving optimal HIV treatment outcomes. Fixed-dose combination (FDC) single-pill regimens, introduced in South Africa in April 2013, has simplified pill taking. We evaluated treatment outcomes among patients initiated on a FDC compared to a similar multi-pill ART regimen in Johannesburg, South Africa. Methods We con...

BACKGROUND Prescribing inappropriate pill splitting is not rare in clinical practice. To reduce inappropriate pill splitting, we developed an automatic warning system linked to a computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system for special oral formulation drugs in outpatient settings. We examined the impact of the warning system on inappropriate prescribing of pill splitting and assess prescri...

The aim of the present study was to observe the effect of zhenbao pill on the motor function of acute spinal cord injury (ASCI) rats and the molecular mechanisms involving miR-146a-5p and G-protein-coupled receptor 17 (GPR17). ASCI rat model was established by modified Allen method, and then the rats were divided into three groups. SH-SY5Y cells were cultured overnight in hypoxia condition and ...

OBJECTIVE To determine if simple adherence measures, such as twenty-four hour recall and refill history, are accurate for routine use, compared to more time-consuming measures such as pill counts. DESIGN Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. SETTING Walter Reed Army Medical Center, a tertiary medical center in Washington. PATIENTS Men and women >30 years old with known coron...

Dramatic improvements in fertility control mark some of the most significant technological changes of the twentieth century, and so it seems paradoxical that the same period saw widespread and large increases in non-marital births. We link these two trends and examine the effect of increased access to the birth control Pill on non-marital childbearing and shot-gun marriage rates, along with oth...