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The Effects Of Birth Control Essay Research

The Effects Of Birth Control Essay, Research Paper


Richard Bradford IV.


Mr. Jonathan Bishop


Birth Control Report


Tuesday March 28, 2000


The Effectiveness of Birth Control


Today?s woman has many birth control options that allow her to plan whether or not she


has children, when she has children, and the age difference between her children. This paper is


designed as an overview of available options about choosing a birth control method that matches


the physical, emotional and lifestyle needs. I personally feel that the pill is a excellent, affordable,


99.5% effective method of birth control.


According to Contraceptive Technology, combination pills are approximately 99.9 percent


effective if used perfectly. What that means is that one in 1,000 women taking the Pill will get


pregnant in the period of a year. In real-life use, about 3 percent of users get pregnant in the


course of a year Statistics state that this is ?usually due to missing one or more pills.? However,


two things that should be remembered. Statistics are not everything–the best form of birth


control is the one you will use correctly and consistently. Oral contraceptives provide no


protection from sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV. So if that is a concern, you should


combine the Pill with condoms for an unbeatable combination!


At any stage of life, a woman may find that one method of birth control suits her needs


better than others. Periodic review of available birth control options will help ensure in choose a


method that best meets your current lifestyle. Some factors to consider that might be important


include method effectiveness, permanency, convenience and protection against sexually


transmitted diseases (STDs).


Some questions that I have are, how safe and effective is the method, will the method


affect my sex drive or my partner?s sex drive, is there an age at which I should stop using


hormone-based contraceptives, will the birth control method affect my ability to have children in


the future, what are my birth control options if I am breastfeeding, what birth control method


would you recommend for me at this stage of my life, these are some common question that might


and could be asked to be answered by an health care professional.


It can be very confusing trying to figure out what these numbers mean. Contraceptive


effectiveness is usually reported as a percentage. These different effective numbers represent


success in ?women years.? So if a form of birth control is 98 percent effective, that means that,


on average, 98 out of 100 women using it for one year will not get pregnant. Occasionally,


contraceptive effectiveness is reported in terms of ?failure rates.? So in the above content, the


same form of birth control would have a 2 percent failure rate, meaning that 2 out of 100 women


using this form of birth control would get pregnant in the period of one year. You also often see


two numbers reported for each form of birth control, ideal and typical. Ideal represents the level


of effectiveness if used perfectly every time; typical rates take into account human failure. Here?s


a neat trick: you can compute the effectiveness of combining two forms of birth control by


multiplying the numbers. So for example, if you combine a condom (12 percent typical failure


rate) with spermicidal foam (21 percent typical failure rate), the failure rate plummets to 2.5


percent.


Most people think that the timing of taking the pill is important new statistics say. The


timing of when you take the pill makes little difference. The reason doctors tell women to take


the pill at the same time every day is so that they want forget. There is no need to set the clock


unless you think you will completely forget otherwise. Where you are taking one day?s pill right


before bedtime and the next day?s pill when you wake up, but a few hours will not make a


difference. The only exception to this rule is if you are on very lose dose pills and are having


problems with spotting. In those cases, varying the time at which you take the pill can increase


spotting, but it won?t decrease effectiveness no matter what.


What most doctor?s recommend is that you try to associate taking your birth control pills


with an activity you do every day. For example, brush your teeth in the morning, or with


breakfast. But, if you do these activities at a different time some days, you really don?t need to


worry.


For some users the pill can have undesirable and sometimes serious side effects such as


weight gain, nausea, hypertension, or the formation of blood clots or noncancerous liver tumors.


The risk of such effects increases for women above the age of 35 who smoke. Pills are obtainable


only by prescription and after a review of a woman?s medical history and check of her physical


condition.


In 1991 the FDA approved the use of the norplant, a long-lasting contraceptive that is


implanted under the skin on the inside of a woman?s under arm. The implant consists of six


matchstick-size flexible tubes that contain a synthetic hormone called progestin. Released slowly


and steadily over a five-year period, this drug inhibits ovulation and thickens cervical mucus,


preventing sperm from reaching eggs. The FDA approved the use of Depo-Provera in 1992.


This injectable contraceptive contains a synthetic version of the hormone progesterone and is


given four times a year.


When conception is not desired, the time to avoid sex is about midway a woman?s


m

enstrual cycle; this was not discovered until the 1930?s, when studies established that an egg is


released (ovulation) from an ovary about once a month, usually about 14 days before the next


menstrual flow. Conception may occur if the egg is fertilized during the next 24 hours or so of if


intercourse happens a day or two before or after the egg is released, because live sperm can be


present. Therefore, the days just before, during, and immediately following ovulation are


considered unsafe to have unprotected intercourse; other days in the cycle are considered safe.


Birth control based on calendar records of menstrual cycles, known as the rhythm method,


has proved unreliable, because cycles may vary due to fatigue, illness, or physical or emotional


stress. However, the time of ovulation, and therefore when to avoid intercourse, can be


determined by observing a number of physical changes. A woman?s body temperature rises


slightly during ovulation and remains high until just before the next flow is heavier. As the


quantity of mucus is reduced, it becomes cloudy and viscous and may disappear. These signals


indicate the approximate time of ovulation and have led to a method of birth control called natural


family planning. The avoidance of intercourse around ovulation is the only birth control method


approved by the FDA.


Birth Control, or limiting reproduction, has become an major importance in the


contemporary world because of the problems posed by population growth. Until relatively


recently most cultures encouraged such growth. The increasing at a faster rate than its means of


support, but 19th-century reformers who in response advocated birth control met bitter


opposition from physicians.


Infection with the HIV virus is a greater threat to the health of many sexually active


individuals than is an unplanned pregnancy. Pills provide no known protection against HIV


infection. Condoms should be used instead of or in addition to pills if protection against HIV is


desired in an intimate sexual relationship. Abstinence and a long-term mutually faithful


relationship are the safest approaches to avoiding HIV infections transmitted by intercourse.


Some disadvantages and cautions with taking any kind of birth control is. Pills must be


taken daily, expense, unwanted menstrual cycle chages, nausea or vomiting, headaches,


depression, decreased libido, cervical ectopia and chlamydia infection, other infections possibly,


thrombophlebitis, pulmonary emboli; and other cardiovascular disease, glucose intolerance,


gallbladder disease, hepatocellular adenomas, cancer, other side effects, estrogenic effects,


progestogenic effects, and androgenic effects.


Taking pills is complicated, and compliance is poor for many individuals. Pills must be


taken ever day. When pill use is inconsistent or incorrect, failure rates rise to high levels. The


high cost of pill in many pharmacies may prompt some women to discontinue pills. Pills may be


associated with menstrual changes including missed periods, very scanty bleeding, spotting, or


breakthrough bleeding. Nausea may occur in the first cycle or so of pill use or, less commonly, in


subsequent cycles. Headaches may start in a woman who has not previously had headaches or


may become worse than they were before starting pills. Rarely, changes in vision accompany


these headaches.


Depression (sometimes severe) and other mood changes may occur in women on pills.


Some women experience a decreased interest in sex or a decreased ability to have orgasms.


Decreased libido may be due to decreased levels of free testosterone caused by oral


contraceptives. Chlamydial cervicitis is more common in women on pills. Pill can cause cervical


ectopia, a condition in which part of the cervical surface near the opening of the canal becomes


covered by the delicate mucus-secreting columnar cells that normally line the cervical canal. With


an ectopion, the cervix of the pill user is more vulnerable to chlamydia trachomatis infection,


although no evidence exists that this increased risk places women using OCs at greater risk for


pelvic inflammatory disease (salpingitis).


Although urinary tractinfections occurred at an increased rate in women using pills in the


Royal college of General Practitioners Study, this link was not found in the oxford/FPA Study.


Women using pills tend to have intercourse more frequently and it is difficult to know if infections


are due to intercourse-induced cystitis or to effects of pills. Other early studies found that women


using pills appeared to have a slightly higher incidence of bronchitis, viral illness such as


chickenpox, cervical ectopion, or vaginal discharges.


Sterilization, If you are certain that you do not want children in the future, sterilization


offers a safe and effective method of birth control. Male sterilization is 99.9% effective; female


sterilization is 99.6% effective. Has no effect on the production of sex hormones in men or


women. Men will continue to produce sperm-free seminal fluid during intercourse and women


will continue to menstruate. The procedure takes about 20 minutes for men and one hour for


women. Depending upon the patient, a general or local anesthetic is used. Considered


permanent. Surgery to reverse the procedure is available, but is costly, is considered major and


results are not guaranteed. These above are reason that make the effectiveness of birth control a


very arguementive concept.


Bibliography


no bibliography needed for this report


33f

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