With the release of Seasonale, a 12-week birth control regime created to decrease the monthly period to only 4 times a year, the idea that women must menstruate every month is becoming outdated. Since birth control became widely available in the 1960's women have used the pill to skip their period for special events and the like. And today, doctors are prescribing these forms of contraception to prevent menstruation all together.
"If you're choosing contraception, then there's not a lot of point to having periods," says Dr. Leslie Miller, a University of Washington-Seattle researcher and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology whose Web site, noperiod.com, explains the option. She points out that women on hormonal contraception don't have real periods anyway, just withdrawal bleeding during the break from the hormone progestin.
Although there are some side effects related to hormone contraception,
like increasing the risk of heart attack, stroke and blood clots. The pill should not be used by women who have had those conditions, unexplained vaginal bleeding or certain cancers, or if they are smokers over 35.
But there are benefits from taking oral contraceptives too, such as a lower risk of ovarian and endometrial cancer, osteoporosis and pelvic inflammatory disease. And forgoing periods means no premenstrual syndrome and a lower risk of anemia and migraines, says Dr. Sheldon Segal, co-author of "Is Menstruation Obsolete?" Segal has been involved in research for several contraceptives.
Most women who do skip or eliminate their monthly menstruation are very pleased (I count myself amoung them!). Besides, skipping the inconvienence, they also skip the emotional state that menstruation brings.
Dr. Patricia Sulak, who researches extended contraception at Texas A&M College of Medicine, applauds this new trend. The doses in standard pills are now so low, she said, that having seven days off them raises the risk of pregnancy.
"This redesign is way overdue," she says. "It's going to be the demise of 21-7."
(For all of you out there without knowledge about birth control 21-7 refers to the regimine of 21 days on the pill and the 7 days you take placebos to allow for menstruation.)
I say HOORAY! And hope that women can finally be liberated from the monthly hastle, emotional rollercoaster, painful cramps, and the stigma of menstruation!
http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/05/22/no.more.periods.ap/index.html
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