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Optimizing therapy of seizures in women who use oral contraceptives.

There is no evidence that oral contraceptives (OCs) increase seizure activity, and OC use in the setting of antiepileptic drug (AED) treatment provides pregnancy prevention at among the highest rates of any available contraceptive method. One concern, however, is the increased risk for OC failure with the use of cytochrome P450 3A4 enzyme-inducing AEDs, such as phenobarbital, carbamazepine, phenytoin, felbamate, topiramate, and oxcarbazepine. Felbamate induces metabolism of only the progestogenic component, whereas topiramate induces metabolism of only the estrogenic component. There is preliminary evidence that lamotrigine induces the metabolism of a progestin, levonorgestrel. It is unclear whether the estrogenic or the progestogenic component is more clinically important in preventing pregnancy. To ensure maximal pregnancy prevention, it is therefore recommended that women taking enzyme-inducing AEDs should receive OCs containing at least 50 mug of ethinyl estradiol and that low-dose formulations in general should not be used. AEDs that do not induce cytochrome P450 3A4 enzymes, including valproic acid, gabapentin, levetiracetam, tiagabine, vigabatrin, zonisamide, and pregabalin, do not interact with OCs. There are no concerns regarding the treatment of seizures or increased pregnancy risk with the use of OCs and these non-enzyme-inducing AEDs. Lamotrigine levels, however, are reduced by 50% in the setting of OC use. Therefore, women with epilepsy taking lamotrigine need to be monitored carefully for seizures when OCs are started and for toxicity when OCs are discontinued. Dose adjustment to maintain clinical stability may be necessary in these settings. The placebo or pill-free week of the OC regimen may also be a period when clinical toxicity can occur. Even with the considerations discussed in this review, OCs are a reasonable contraceptive option for women with epilepsy taking AEDs.

Anticonvulsants↗

Vesicovaginal fistula and its complications due to prolonged use of vaginal diaphragm.

The vaginal diaphragm is currently less popular than other contraceptive methods, such as the pill, IUDs or surgical sterilization. It is however, regarded as one of the safest methods of contraception available and complications of diaphragm use are rare. This report describes a case in which a vesicovaginal fistula and genitourinary tract infections complicated the use of this contraceptive method.

Contraceptive Devices, Female↗

Contraception for adolescents.

The two major groups of contraceptives available to adolescents are simple and prescribed methods. Of the former, spermicidal agents and condoms alone or in combination offer some protection. Of the prescribed methods, oral contraceptives and intrauterine devices offer best protection. The risk of pregnancy and the mortality and pathologic risks involved in the use of each method must be considered. The indications, contraindications and specific guidelines for prescribing contraceptives in this age group cannot be uniformly applied to all adolescents; therefore, individualization is always necessary.

Adolescent↗

Contraceptives for teenagers.

The contraceptive options suitable for teenagers are presented and discussed. Condoms have the advantage of preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, and oral contraceptives are probably the most effective in preventing pregnancy. Other options include the barrier contraceptives available to women, spermicides, sponges, intrauterine devices, periodic abstinence, and the morning after pill.

Adolescent↗

Birth control failure among patients with unwanted pregnancies: 1982-1984.

Three hundred twenty-three patients who underwent abortion counseling between 1982 and 1984 were interviewed to determine the cause of birth control failure. Twenty-three percent employed no birth control and 27 percent used diaphragms, the majority either inconsistently or incorrectly. Twenty-two percent of the pregnancies were due to oral contraceptive-related failures; and the remainder were due to spermicide, condom, rhythm method, multiple method, and intrauterine device failures. Overall, fewer than one quarter of unwanted pregnancies among the predominantly white, middle-class population studied resulted from failure to obtain contraception, and only 19 percent represented technical failure despite correct and consistent use. The majority (51 percent) occurred because of human error, ie, either incorrect or inconsistent use of available contraceptive modalities. These findings contrast sharply with those of a similar study performed between 1969 and 1974. At that time failure to obtain contraception accounted for more than one half of the failures. Whereas the development and distribution of contraceptive technology was the challenge of the 1960s and the 1970s, reducing the number of birth control failures through anticipatory patient counseling is the challenge of the current decade.

Abortion Applicants↗

Contraceptive use in young women: uptake, availability and education.

Despite increased availability of contraception and a relaxation of prescribing laws unplanned pregnancies will still occur. However when the right to life of the unborn child is enshrined in the constitution it is vital to provide adequate sex education and ensure the availability of all methods of contraception to reduce unplanned pregnancies to a minimum. This paper surveys the use of contraception prior to pregnancy in a group of unmarried mothers who delivered at a Dublin maternity hospital. It also surveys the availability of contraception from the pharmacies within the hospital's catchment area and the provision of sex education in the surrounding schools.

Adult↗

Male hormonal contraception.

Male hormonal contraception, based on the suppression of both gonadotropins, follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone, resulting in marked decrease in sperm production, is designed for couples in stable relationships where the male partner desires to assume family planning responsibilities using reversible methods. Two large scale, multicenter studies that used testosterone injections as the prototype male hormonal contraceptive demonstrated when azoospermia and/or very severe oligozoospermia were attained, contraceptive efficacy was equivalent to female hormonal methods. Current studies aim to find the androgen alone or androgen plus progestin preparations that are most efficacious, user friendly, and with least potential adverse effects. It is likely that injections or implants of androgens either alone or with progestins will become the first male hormonal contraceptive available within this decade. Further research and development include the use of selective androgen and/or progestin receptor modulators, nonpeptide GnRH antagonists, and agents with local actions on the testis for male contraception.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗

Contraception for adolescents: social, clinical and service-delivery considerations.

A large proportion of the millions of adolescents worldwide who are sexually active have sex without using modern contraceptives or protection against sexually transmitted infections (STI). In many cases, this results in too-early (and often unwanted) pregnancies and STI, with negative consequences at different levels. Adolescents in general--and unmarried adolescents in particular--often find it difficult to obtain the contraceptives they need. Health workers are often unaware of the special needs of adolescents, and contraceptive services are only rarely provided in a manner that is accessible to adolescents. The World Health Organization stresses that age alone does not constitute a medical reason for denying any available contraceptive method to adolescents. However, it recommends that it is important for health workers to be well aware of the biomedical, psychological and social issues that affect how they can assist adolescents in making well-informed choices of contraceptive methods that suit their special needs, and in using the contraceptives, they choose in an effective manner.

Adolescent↗

Effectiveness of lactational amenorrhoea in prevention of pregnancy in Manila, the Philippines: non-comparative prospective trail.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the contraceptive efficacy of the lactational amenorrhoea method. DESIGN: Non-comparative prospective trial. SETTING: Urban Manila, the Philippines. SUBJECTS: 485 lower income, educated women with extensive experience of breast feeding. INTERVENTION: Women were offered all available contraceptives for use after birth. Those who chose the lactational amenorrhoea method were taught the method, screened for the study, and followed for 12 months to determine the risk of pregnancy when the method was used. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Life table pregnancy rates during correct and incorrect use of the method, censored monthly in the event of sexual abstinence or the use of another contraceptive method. RESULTS: The lactational amenorrhoea method was 99% effective when used correctly (that is, during lactational amenorrhoea and full or nearly full breast feeding for up to six months). At 12 months the effectiveness during amenorrhoea dropped to 97%. CONCLUSIONS: The lactational amenorrhoea method provided as much protection from pregnancy as non-breast feeding women experience with non-medicated intrauterine devices and barrier methods. The contraceptive effect of lactation cannot be attributed to lactational or postpartum abstinence.

Adult↗

The Prentif contraceptive cervical cap: a contemporary study of its clinical safety and effectiveness.

Because they seemed to be an overlooked, underutilized, and underdeveloped means of contraception, cervical caps were offered to patients in a private gynecological practice and the first 413 acceptors were sent a detailed questionnaire about their experiences. The 371 who responded provided generous amounts of information helpful in assessing not only cap safety and effectiveness, which are dealt with herein, but also in assessing acceptability which is dealt with in the companion article that follows. With regard to safety considerations, "cervical erosion" was not found to contraindicate cap use and no other significant safety hazards were encountered, although two concerns were suggested for further evaluation. The failure rate was 8.4 per 100 women per year by the life table method. Of 25 failures, 11 were labeled method failures and 14 were labeled human failures by the respondents themselves. The role of cap dislodgement as a cause of method failures is analyzed. It is concluded that caps are as safe and effective as diaphragms and that for many women they are the most suitable form of contraception available. It is reasonable to expect that they will soon be able to be approved for general use.

Adult↗

Acceptance of contraceptive practice by grandmultiparae in Benin City, Nigeria.

Five hundred sixty grandmultiparous women were interviewed as to their contraceptive awareness, desirability and use in the three major hospitals in Benin City, Nigeria, between October 1, 1980 and September, 1981. Their parity ranged from 5 to 14 with a mean of 6.7. There was high level of awareness of contraceptive availability and usefulness (65%), but low level of practice (27.1%). The main causes of the low practice level included opposition from husband and other relatives, complications of previous methods used and the desire to have a large family. Oral contraceptives were the preferred method, followed by intrauterine devices. Educational attainment had a positive relationship to acceptance of contraceptive practice. We believe that with more concerted effort at family planning counseling, the community will be rid of the hazards and menace of grandmultiparity.

Adolescent↗

Considerations for contraception in women with cardiovascular disorders.

Women with hypertension, angina pectoris, or mitral valve prolapse require special considerations when selecting an appropriate method of contraception. All three effective, reversible options (oral contraceptives, intrauterine devices, or progestin implants) carry some degree of added risk for these patient populations. However, pregnancy itself presents certain risks and, in the event of contraceptive failure, certain women with these disorders are at increased risk of developing serious cardiovascular sequelae that affect both mother and fetus. These negative effects can carry far into the neonatal period. This article describes the risk/benefit profiles of the currently available contraceptive options relative to their potential impact in these compromised women.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗

Contraceptive failure and continuation among married women in the United States, 1970-75.

Using data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), this study reports differentials in contraceptive use-failure and continuation among married women aged 15-44 years in the United States. Failure rates differed by contraceptive intention. Within categories of intention, these rates differed by method, age, race, and parity. Users of modern methods had higher continuation rates than users of traditional methods. These results indicate that a woman's motivation is an important factor in long-term successful use of available contraceptive methods and that more effective and easier to use methods need to be developed.

Adolescent↗

Women's fears and men's anxieties: the impact of family planning on gender relations in northern Ghana.

The Navrongo experiment, a family planning and health project in northern Ghana, has demonstrated that an appropriately designed, community-based family planning program can produce a change in contraceptive practice that had been considered unattainable in such a setting. Simultaneously, however, evidence suggests that newly introduced family planning services and contraceptive availability can activate tension in gender relations. In this society, where payment of bridewealth signifies a woman's requirement to bear children, there are deeply ingrained expectations about women's reproductive obligations. Physical abuse and reprisals from the extended family pose substantial threats to women; men are anxious that women who practice contraception might be unfaithful. Data from focus-group discussions with men and women are examined in this report and highlight the strains on gender relations resulting from contraceptive use. The measures taken to address this problem and methods of minimizing the risk of adverse social consequences are discussed.

Adult↗

[Endometrial interference of synthetic estrogens in fertility regulation.Is it necessary to interfere with the antiovulatory mechanism at the central nervous system level in order to obtain contraception?].

For some time the anti-ovulatory activity of certain estrogen/progestagen preparations was the main approach in fertility control. Up to date a drastic dosage reduction of both steroid hormones has been accomplished ameliorating the side effects on the one hand, and being active compounds as contraceptives, in the other. Currently, there are a wide variety of oral contraceptives available with a variety of estrogen doses combined with different progestagens. The estrogen content is a high as 80 micrograms and as low as 20 micrograms, moreover, such formulations are prescribed beginning the 1st or the 5th day of the menstrual cycle. By studying plasma and endometrial samples simultaneously obtained from chronic oral contraceptive users taking either 30 micrograms or 50 in such pills; a 17-beta-estradiol pattern was attained as that seen during follicular maturation in the ovulatory cycle only women under the lower dose of synthetic estrogen. However, in the endometrium such a cyclicity did not take place; in parallel circulating progesterone in both groups never reach levels greater than 5.0 ng/ml. Results offer to find a local critical period during the ovulatory menstrual cycle to achieve with much lower hormonal dosages a different approach in future methods of contraception.

Contraception↗

Family planning in Russia: experience and attitudes of gynecologists.

A survey was made of 375 Russian gynecologists. The questionnaire on family planning and contraceptives was distributed at the beginning of three local educational symposia. Almost all participants filled in the questionnaire on attitudes, knowledge and experience with family planning. The sample consisted of departmental specialists and heads of departments/clinics, working mainly at in- or out-patient women's health clinics. The mean age was 37 years; 83% were women, living in medium-sized or large cities (80%). Half of them had been working as a gynecologist for more than 10 years. Only 55% had been trained in family planning. The main reasons mentioned for the high abortion rate in Russia were the lack of education, non-involvement of male partner, and lack of modern contraceptives. Most of the gynecologists were in favor of special family planning clinics with special attention to services for the users. About half of the physicians knew how the pill works and estimated that 41% of women know that the pill contains estrogens. Sixty-two percent found that patients are badly informed about available contraception. Main sources of information on contraception were journals/books, colleagues and mass media. The majority reported having a directive style of patient counseling, and stated that parents should be informed of their teenagers' sexual experiences. The more experienced physicians with a training in family planning were better informed on contraception and showed a more patient-concerned attitude. It is concluded that health care providers should be the main target group of training and education in family planning, and need the support of Western European family planning organizations.

Abortion, Induced↗

[The diaphragm as a contraceptive method in the experience of users in the public health services]

This study, started in August 1989, describes the acceptability of diaphragms as part of the daily routine of 194 women enrolled at five public health care centers in Osasco, (Greater São Paulo). Follow-up of the cohort was performed by semestral home interviews until August 1991. Our data indicate that the diaphragm can be a viable alternative within the public health care setting. Women, including those from low-income groups, are interested in new alternatives to currently available contraceptive practices. Nevertheless, the cumulative rate of continuity for use of the method was only 25.7% (39 women) after a period of 12 months. Only 37.1% of women opting for the diaphragm confirm its use during every act of sexual intercourse. Most of the women (72.7%) only learned about diaphragms during the process of choosing a contraceptive method. The main reasons for discontinued use were partners' complaints, discomfort, and difficulty in handling. The findings point to the need for reformulating family planning activities to provide greater support for women, introduce initiatives to enhance male participation, and promote on-going training of health professionals with regard to the management of the method and support for its users.

Journal Article↗