Pill

What is the contraceptive pill?

The contraceptive pill is a little pill that girls usually take to inhibit the ovulation and normal fertilization. It is a contraceptive method developed by Gregory Goodwin Pincus, John Rock and Min Chueh Chang. It was first used as a contrceptive method in 1960 in the United States, permitting women to chose for the first time when they want to have a baby. It contains normally a combination of two hormones: estrogen and progestin.

What is a hormone?

A hormone is a protein and a transporter of a chemical message produced by a gland or a tissue. This message transmits a signal by the blood from one or a group of cells to another one. It acts on organs or other tissues situated away from it. Hormones, with the nervous system, organize the activity of the billions of cells in the human body.

give a couple of examples of hormones...maybe the ones implicated in the generation of oocytes and sperm cells!Pierre.brawand 25 novembre 2007 à 21:05 (MET)

What are the two hormones that the pill contains and what is their role?

before defining the the two hormones in the pill... define THE pill by itself... as a contraceptive method with its discovery, history, efficiency and so on... see page 571 of Essential biology with physiology...Pierre.brawand 25 novembre 2007 à 21:11 (MET)

The pill is principally an association of two synthetic hormones: estrogen and progestin (=synthetic progesterone-like hormone).
Estrogen is present in both women's and men's body, but at a higher level in women's body of reproductive age. It is a group of steroid compounds and the principal female sex hormone. There are three major naturally occurring types of estrogen, which are estradiol, estriol and estrone. Estrogens promote the development of female secondary sex characteristics, such as breasts, and are also involved in the regulation of the menstrual cycle. In males estrogen regulates the reproductive system important to the maturaion of sperm.

OK bu a figure showing the molecular structure of these molecules would be good to add to the final document.Pierre.brawand 25 novembre 2007 à 21:11 (MET)

Do girls all take the same pill and why?

No some girls can't stand hormones contained in the "normal" pill. They will suffer from secondary effects.

What are the kind of secondary effects?

First we have to know that about 60% of women report no side effects at all, and the majority of those who do have only minor effects. It shows that the women's body, thanks to the technology's evolution, accepts more and more the pill. But if there are side effects they can act physically on girls but also psychologically.

Girls can have physical side effects as:
Weight Gain: The weight gain induced by the pill consumption is the principal cause for girls to stop to take it. In fact 25% of girls between 15 and 19 years old would stop to take the pill because of weight gain and acne.
In our appearance based society, girls' physical aspect is crucial, that's why they stop to take it not to gain weight. By deduction we can say that in our society girls are more focused on their physical aspect than on the fact that they could become pregnant.

Sexuality: Even if the pill is a good way to have sexual relations without becoming pregnant, without being stressed and have sex in a more spontaneous and natural way, they could be also negative effects on sexuality for example: the decrease of frequency of sexual thoughts or the decrease of lubrification which can make sex painful. This negative effects continue for up to four months after a woman stops taking the pill. It shows that the organism can't be as before in only one day, it needs a adaptation time.

Other side effects: there could be also other physical side effects as vaginal discharge,changes in menstrual flow,nausea and vomiting, headaches, changes in the breasts, changes in blood pressure and skin problems.

Girls can have psychological side effects as:
Depression:Current medical reference textbooks on contraception agree that a low-dose oral contraceptives doesn't increase the risk of depression of a woman, and doesn't worsen the depression of those who are still depressed. However, a recent study found that women taking the contraceptive pill have two times more chance to be depressed than those who don't take the pill. The average depression rating scale score was 17.6 for women taking the pill compared with 9.8 for those who don't take it. These women in the survey were adult (over 18), weren't pregnant or lactating,they weren't depressed and didn't use anti- depressant medication since 1 years. So we can see that there is sometimes a relationship between the woman's depression and the fact that she's taking the pill.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_oral_contraceptive_pill#Side-effects

What is the minipill?

It is a Progestin Only Pill (POP). It is a contraceptive pill to be taken by mouth and containing progestin (=progestogen), but no estrogen. Minipills are taken to interrupt the ovulation and prevent a pregnancy.

OK but why does this pill exist instead of the normal pill? Advanteges and disadvantages, effectiveness, etc...Pierre.brawand 19 novembre 2007 à 10:39 (MET)

=Why do girls take the pill?=
Girls don't take the pill principally ethical or physical problems_ some don't take the pill Pour la plupart des femmes, c’est avant tout dans un but contraceptif mais certaines pilules peuvent également être prescrites avec d’autres objectifs comme la prise en charge des problèmes de peau ou de l’acné, de la rétention d’eau ou du syndrome prémenstruel.

In what period of life do girls take the pill and for how long?

The pill is among other things taken in a birth control device; girls take it to be able to have sex without any pregnancy risk. Girls often take the pill during their adolescent period but there are also women (adult females) who take it because they don't want to have any baby when they have sexual relations. Girls and women take generally the pill until they want to have a baby, often for years.

Why do girls take the pill?

Girls take the pill principally because they don't want to get pregnant at a particular moment of their life but there are also other reasons:

Regulating the menstrual cycle: Some girls have ovaries that don't ovulate regularly. Some problems can occur such as irregular periods or heavy bleeding during the periods. In order to solve this problem girls take the pill which helps to regulate their menstrual cycle, so their periods come every month.

How does the pill act on female organism?

On the figure "The female Reproduction Cycle" At start the hypotalamus, the control center of hormones situates near the brain, secretes hormone. This Gonadotropin-releasing hormone will stimulate a gland, the anterior pituitary which is the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland, and increase the output of FSH and LH (two pituitary hormones)(1). When a ovarian follicle which the growth has been stimulate by FSH (2) is mature, it secretes more and more estrogen. It creates a peak of estrogen (3) which causes a increase of FSH and LH (4). This FSH and LH surge provoking the ovulation (5).If there is any peak in the level of estrogen there is any surge of FSH and LH and then any ovulation. So in few words it's just a question of quantity (estrogen).
See Annex Pill 1

Are there pills for men?

Nowadays, scientists are elaborating the contraceptive pill for men. This pill will inhibit spermatogenesis. For more information click the following link.

Male_Contraceptives

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pill
Essential Biology

go back to Contraception_3BIbDF01_02