Wattpad Novel

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Drug Issue: Birth control Pills VS Depot Contraceptives

The use of chemical contraceptives has their own conveniences. Unfortunately, some unlikable side-effects can also be seen with their use. Oral contraceptive pills and injectable contraceptives are two popular chemical contraceptives. Both have their own handiness and untoward reactions but which method is better?

The oral contraceptive pill

Estrogen and progestin are the active elements of an oral contraceptive pill. While estrogen alone can cause the thromboembolism - a clotting of blood inside the blood vessel that may lead to stroke or heart attack, progestin alone may result to spotting or bleeding. Hence to minimize the untoward effect, estrogen is always used in combination with progestin.


Image source

Progestin on the other hand can be recognized alone. As its natural form - progesterone, it can only be effective in injection form. With the half-life of five minutes, progesterone is metabolized quickly making it useless if taken orally. However as a synthesized progestin as lynesterol ( Exluton, Daphne) for example, researchers had found their way in making them orally active.