title: [Prevention of pregnancy in adolescents and premenopausal females].
abstract: The norms of our society have changed in the last decades. This also concerns our general attitude towards sexuality. Professional demands on the parents, increasing material independence of adolescents, excessive exposure to external stimuli lead to sexual contacts at a very early age. Contrary to a more accelerated physical development, which manifests itself in a progressively earlier puberty, psychic development is retarded. According to numerous studies pregnancies in adolescents do not show increased somatic complications. They do, however, influence the psychic maturation of the adolescents in a negative way. Whereas the necessity for sexual education is unquestioned, the efficacy is doubtful. Knowledge of contraception and its correct use is not enough to avoid undesired pregnancies. The psychic structure of the individual may often lead to an undesired pregnancy. Therefore, we recommend for adolescents contraceptives which are reliable, without negative effect on fertility and with neglibile side-effects. The number of failures and the inconvenience realted to their use make conventional methods unacceptable. The danger of PID and the risk of later sterility contraindicate the use of IUD in adolescents. Today the method of choice is a low-dose contraceptive which contains a gestagen of the third generation. The premenopausal state is the time in which cycles become irregular and in which an increasing hormonal insufficiency is observed. Therefore, women over forty years need reliable contraception as well as hormonal substitution. Increase of cardiovascular risk was observed in women when high-dose contraceptives were given. This was obvious in the more than forty year old women taking the pill.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Leiterin des Sozialmedizinischen Dienstes der Universitätsfrauenklinik, Basel.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mall-Haefeli
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003278:Contraceptives, Oral, Hormonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause / Q000187:drug effects*; D012741:Sexual Maturation / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D003278:Contraceptives, Oral, Hormonal
vernacular_title: Empfängnisverhütung bei Jugendlichen und bei prämenopausalen Frauen.