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First, here's an article about suppressing your periods by taking birth control pills continuously. I totally agree with Dr. Sulak and have several patients on continuous pills -- 9 weeks on, 1 week off. That's a menstrual period every 10 weeks or about 5 per year.
Skipping Periods: Is It Safe?
Woman Skip Periods By Taking Continuous Birth Control Pills
Woman Skip Periods By Taking Continuous Birth Control Pills
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Karen Matous doesn't dread her monthly periods anymore, because she no longer has them. Extreme premenstrual syndrome prompted her to stop her periods altogether. "I was a bear. I mean, I had a monster living in me and it would just come out. It was uncontrollable," Matous said.
Her OB-GYN suggested taking continuous birth control pills. Matous has been taking them for two years now. "I usually can go about three months and then I start to get a little breakthrough and then I quit taking them for four to five days and then get right back on them again," Matous said.
"Rather than taking 21 days of pills and then taking a week off, a woman just continues to take real pills," Dr. Patricia Sulak said. Period suppression also helps with menstrual migraines and mood swings.
Sulak stresses that skipping your period is safe and healthy. In fact, she believes monthly periods can actually increase your chance of endometriosis and ovarian cancer. "We think this is going to be an option that many women are going to chose, now with their own pills, or with new pills that will be coming on the market," Sulak said.
Copyright 2002 by TheBakersfieldChannel.com. MedStar contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Next here's a reassuring article that didn't get as much press as the WHI study which condemned hormone therapy. This doesn't all make sense since birth control pills have 4 to 7 times as much estrogen as HRT.
Study Finds No Link Between Birth Control Pill and Breast Cancer
June 30 , 2002
The question of whether a link exists between birth control pill use and the development of breast cancer later in life has been the subject of numerous research studies. This research has been driven by the knowledge that exposure to estrogen and progesterone, which the pill contains, is linked to increased breast cancer risk. But a new study published in the June 27 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine should help ease women's fears. After interviewing thousands of women who chose to take the pill and thousands who chose not to, researchers found that the pill does not appear to increase breast cancer risk.
The new data comes from interviews researchers conducted with more than 9000 women between the ages of 35 and 64 as part of the Women's CARE (Contraceptive and Reproductive Experiences) Study. Their goal was to compare women who had been diagnosed with invasive breast cancer with women who were similar to them but who had not been diagnosed with the disease.
The researchers found that when they compared the risk of breast cancer between these groups of women, there was no evidence that the pill increased risk. The risk did not increase for women who began taking the pill as teenagers, nor did it matter how long a woman had been on the pill. There also were no differences seen in the risk of breast cancer between white women and black women who were on the pill.
References:
Marchbanks PA, McDonald JA, Wilson HG et al. Oral Contraceptives and Risk of Breast Cancer. New England Journal of Medicine. 2002; 346: 2025-32. www.nejm.org or ...more here...
Davidson NE and Helzlsouer KJ. Good News About Oral Contraceptives. Editorial. New England Journal of Medicine. 2002: 346: 2078-09. www.nejm.org
The above is not meant to be medical advice. Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc.
Best wishes. Dr. Rehert
Best wishes. Dr. Rehert
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