The new birth control pill Lybrel is the first oral
contraceptive designed to be taken 365 days a year
with no pill-free intervals. Women who use Lybrel don’t
have regular periods, although they may have breakthrough
bleeding. There are risks and benefits to
suppressing menstruation, reports the September 2007
issue of Harvard Women’s Health Watch.
The idea of preventing periods is not completely new.
Conventional oral contraceptives also stop periods
if they are taken continuously, and a clinician may
suggest this approach to enable a woman to skip her
period at an inconvenient time, such as during her
honeymoon. The notion of suppressing periods over a
longer term has become increasingly attractive, partly
because this strategy has helped with treating endometriosis
and managing the hormonal swings of perimenopause.
There’s some justification for reducing the
number of periods or eliminating them altogether. For
some women, eliminating periods can mean avoiding cramps,
mood swings, headaches, and heavy bleeding that can
cause anemia. On the other hand, many women are uncomfortable
with the notion of not having periods. One concern
about Lybrel is that if it fails, a woman may not know
she is pregnant.
The Harvard Women’s Health Watch notes
that there are no long-term safety data on Lybrel,
but its risks are thought to be similar to conventional
oral contraceptives—an increased incidence of
blood clots, heart attacks, and stroke, especially
in smokers. On the plus side, birth control pills appear
to lower the risk of ovarian and endometrial cancers;
Lybrel might do the same. But the effects of taking
Lybrel for more than a year are unknown. The use of
continuous birth control has to be considered largely
uncharted territory.
Also in this issue:
- Stroke
- Exercise for
osteoarthritis
- Warning signs for ovarian cancer
- Retinol and skin
aging
- Benefits of calcium from food
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