New Version of “The Pill” Could Cut Menstruation Cycles to Once in a Decade
Keeping on the womanly topic we started the day with, here’s a story that has Tampax shaking in its soft, white boots.
Sarah E. Richards has a great write-up over at Slate about the newest in baby-stay-away meds. She offers valuable insight into the psychological impact on a woman of having (or not having) a period. It’s a hormone-driven rollercoaster of choices that may affect everything from how good something tastes to your ability to stand up on your own later in life.
Western women today are estimated to average about 400 menstrual cycles over the course of their lifetimes. Pregnancy and nursing halt periods for a time, of course. And for years physicians have informally advised women with painful periods to practice “menstrual suppression” by taking hormonal contraceptives continuously. Birth-control medications tend to lessen menstrual and premenstrual symptoms to begin with, and some studies show that fewer periods may mean even more relief.
Now Lybrel is explicitly selling all of this, by prescription, at a drug store near you. Women can shut off their systems for law school, a trip around the world—even their entire 20s. Random spotting is common while using Lybrel, especially at the start. But in a study of another brand called Alesse, 90 percent of participants did not bleed at all after a year of use, according to Leslie Miller, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Washington. “We can manipulate menstruation,” she says…
Girl Talk, A New Pill That Stops your Period - Slate.com
Technorati Tags: menstruation, the pill, periods, pregnancy, otpions, birth control
Related Stories
POSTED IN: Media, Medicine, Prevention, Technology, Your Mind
0 opinions for New Version of “The Pill” Could Cut Menstruation Cycles to Once in a Decade
No one has left a comment yet. You know what this means, right? You could be first!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: