from renewleeds

Both Yaz and Yasmin sold by Bayer are the best-selling birth control products with benefits; especially it is the # choice for women who are suffering from PSMS and Acne. But now, several different research found that Yaz have higher blood clotting risk than other birth control pills.

Bayer maintains that Yaz is safe. “Based on a thorough assessment of the available scientific data, Bayer believes that its drospirenone-containing products are safe and effective and have a favorable benefit-risk profile when used in accordance with U.S. product labeling”, spokeswoman Rose Talarico told ABC news.

All birth control pills may pose a risk of blood clots. Most birth control drugs combine two female hormones, estrogen and progestin, which help ovulation and sperm. Estrogen along does not cause blood clots, but it has several-folder increased risk of developing bloods. Also the clots can be caused by other factors such as age, family history, obesity or smoking.

The FDA advisory panel will review the studies of the risk of clots associated with the oral contraceptive on Dec 08. Also the FDA will have further investigations on newer birth control drugs.

Big Mountain Pharmacy advises women should discuss the risks and benefits of birth control pills with doctors before they buy Yaz or buy Yasmin, especially drospirenone-containing oral contraceptives.

The Pill, as oral birth control is universally known, is – like many of its original consumers – officially middle-aged. The Pill was introduced to appreciative women 50 years ago in May of 1960, revolutionizing birth control.  Popular pre-pill methods such as the IUD, the diaphragm and condoms were time consuming, messy and interfered with sexual enjoyment and spontaneity. More importantly, they were less effective, resulting in a great many unplanned pregnancies and ensuing “shotgun marriages”.

The Pill was arguably the single greatest turning point in the history of women’s liberation, leveling the sexual playing field between men and women and sparking the sexual revolution.  Society’s mores around premarital and even promiscuous sex changed dramatically in a single generation. Today’s in-your-face sexually charged ads, movies and music videos, many featuring women so young they look like they should be doing their homework instead of cavorting about half-dressed in front of a camera (think Britney Spears), lead some to argue that the pendulum has swung too far.

Doors previously closed to the fairer sex swung open, and women began to seriously consider options other than early marriage and motherhood. Women entered the workforce in ever-increasing numbers, marrying later and starting a family when (and if) they were ready. Today’s young women take their reproductive independence for granted. My grandfather’s tacky ashtray featuring a grinning man advising “Don’t be a wage slave – get your wife a job!”, which elicited many a chuckle in my childhood, wouldn’t make much sense to today’s youth.

Interestingly, today’s liberated women don’t report higher levels of happiness than their June Cleaver-like 50′s counterparts.  In what’s been called “the paradox of women’s declining happiness”, studies show that women’s life satisfaction has been declining for the past 35 years compared to men’s. This decline has been attributed to self esteem issues arising from the modern media emphasis on youth and physical appearance, higher infidelity and divorce rates, ticking biological clocks in a world of delayed marriage, and the stress of juggling motherhood and a career in a world where the bulk of home and family responsibilities still fall largely on women.

This downswing in women’s happiness following the widespread adoption of the Pill has some in the Roman Catholic Church saying “I told you so”. Fifty years ago church leaders predicted the Pill would result in widespread family breakdown, runaway abortion rates, the sexualization of children, the weakening of the institution of marriage and female displacement from the security of the homes – predictions that there is mounting evidence to support.

In 1961, less than 500,000 women were on the Pill, compared to some 100 million today. The women of the 60′s and 70′s were essentially guinea pigs for oral contraception, ingesting massive doses of hormones and experiencing considerably more side effects than consumers of the modern low-dose “mini” Pill. Modern oral contraception is still not without its side effects, particularly for women who smoke, have blood clots or who have had (or are at risk of) a heart attack, but most of them are mild and/or transitory.

Women report that they still shoulder most of the responsibility and expense of buying birth control. In work that may lead to another milestone in the sexual revolution, researchers with the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute are pursuing an effective male hormonal contraceptive in a $1.5 million study of a combination of two hormonal gels that are applied to the skin. Let’s hope this makes women happy.

While Canadians celebrate a new low in teenage pregnancy rates, American rates, although also dropping, remain among the highest in the developed world -about twice that of Canada’s. American teen pregnancies peaked in 1990 at an estimated 1 million. The introduction of sex education and prevention programs and the increasing use of birth control have led to steadily declining rates across the US since that high (except for slight rises in 2006 and 2007), but teen pregnancy remains epidemic in the US.

Canadian teen pregnancies have dropped dramatically since 1996 – almost 37%. Research Coordinator Alex McKay of the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada credits the fall in the Canadian teen pregnancy rate to contraception, particularly the pill, and not to teens having less sex. “Generally speaking”, says McKay, “What you find is that the more a society has an accepting attitude toward the reality of adolescent sexuality, the lower the teen pregnancy rate is. Canadians tend to have a more relaxed attitude towards adolescent sexuality than people in the United States.” The Guttmacher Institute, a center for sexual and reproductive health, attributes about 25% of the decline in American teen pregnancies to abstinence, and 75% to the effective use of contraceptives.

About half of all American high school students are sexually active, and roughly ninety percent of girls not using birth control will become pregnant within one year. Nearly a third will have an abortion, about 14% will miscarry, and more than 400,000 will give birth. The highest teen birth rates in the US are in the southern states, while the lowest rates are in the northeastern states.  Black and Hispanic teens have the highest pregnancy rates, followed by American Indians and then whites. Pregnancy rates are lowest in Asian teens.

According to the Planned Parenthood Federation, the cost of teen pregnancy amounts to an estimated $7 billion annually in public assistance, health care, lost tax revenues and other costs. Young mothers are more likely to live in poverty and isolation, are less likely to graduate from high school, and are less likely to get support from the biological father.

Their children suffer too. Babies born to girls under 20 are more likely to be premature, have a low birth weight, and to suffer from infection, chemical dependency and developmental disabilities. They are at greater risk for abuse and neglect, and even of dying before their first birthday. Many babies born to teen moms repeat the cycle and go on to become teen parents themselves.

Parents can help prevent teen pregnancy by being involved in their teens’ lives and maintaining a close and open relationship.  Experts advise parents to educate their children about the realities and risks of becoming sexually active at a young age. Encourage abstinence, but ensure that your teen understands the importance of, and has access to, reliable birth control if he or she should choose to become sexually active.