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...

4.1 Absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion 4.1.1 Humans The pharmacokinetics of the newer progestogens, desogestrel, norgestimate and gestodene, has been reviewed (Fotherby, 1996). There are only a few reports of studies on the disposition of these progestogens, mostly in combination with ethinyloestradiol, and these are discussed in detail in the monograph on 'Oral contraceptives, ...

OBJECTIVE To assess the risk of pulmonary embolism, ischaemic stroke, and myocardial infarction associated with combined oral contraceptives according to dose of oestrogen (ethinylestradiol) and progestogen. DESIGN Observational cohort study. SETTING Data from the French national health insurance database linked with data from the French national hospital discharge database. PARTICIPANTS ...

BACKGROUND Migraine with aura (MA) is a contraindication to the use of combined oral contraceptives (COCs) because of the increased risk of ischemic stroke. Progestogen-only contraceptive pill (POP) is a safe alternative to COCs and it is preferable in women with cerebrovascular diseases or risk factors for stroke. STUDY DESIGN Prospective diary-based pilot study. Thirty women with MA (n = 15...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the association between use of combined oral contraceptives and risk of venous thromboembolism, taking the type of progestogen into account. DESIGN Two nested case-control studies. SETTING General practices in the United Kingdom contributing to the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD; 618 practices) and QResearch primary care database (722 practices). PARTIC...

OBJECTIVE To provide a comprehensive overview of the risk of venous thrombosis in women using different combined oral contraceptives. DESIGN Systematic review and network meta-analysis. DATA SOURCES PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Academic Search Premier, and ScienceDirect up to 22 April 2013. REVIEW METHODS Observational...