FREE ESSAY ON THE EFFECTS OF BIRTH CONTROL

THE EFFECTS OF BIRTH CONTROL

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
menstrual 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