Will period-free hormonal contraception become the norm of the twenty-first century?
The feelings of women about their menstruations has been modified due to the use of hormonal contraception. Women using oestroprogestative pills know that menstruations are triggered by the cessation of their absorption rather than any other physiological phenomenon. They know that the amenorrhea which appears under progestative contraception is both non pathological and reversible. Consequently, a good many women, confident in terms of birth control by these very efficient contraceptive methods, wish also to space out those considered useless and unpleasant periods for 3 to 6 months and even for 1 year or more. The actual hormonal contraceptive methods theoretically allow this spacing out of the menstruations but often by dint of much metrorragia. Indeed, while the first studies on those "non-periods" contraceptive methods seem to show their harmlessness, they must be further evaluated in a more specific way. Additional studies must thus be pursued in this direction. This new request from women about their periods while being often undervalued by physicians, must now be taken into account for future contraceptive methods.
Aubeny
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French Association for Contraception, 10 Rue du Docteur Lancereaux, 75008, Paris, France. eaubeny@compuserve.com
D000568:Amenorrhea; D003278:Contraceptives, Oral, Hormonal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008598:Menstruation / Q000187:drug effects*
D003278:Contraceptives, Oral, Hormonal