"Hormonal contraceptives" refers to methods of birth control that contain synthetic hormones to prevent pregnancy. These include contraceptive pills, patches, injections, and implants that work by regulating a woman's hormones and preventing the release of eggs from the ovaries.
Full definition
We also reported positive associations between breast density and nulliparity and the duration
of hormonal contraceptive use, proxies of higher cumulative estrogen exposure to breast tissue (6, 7, 9), among women ages 25 to 29 years (33).
Hopefully I've made a case for why taking artificial hormones aren't the best option for delaying pregnancy, but if just balancing hormones isn't the reason for
taking hormonal contraceptives and there is the need to delay or prevent pregnancy, there are other options (that are much healthier).
Women who are overweight or obese are less likely than normal - weight women to use the birth control pill and
other hormonal contraceptive methods.
The researchers in this study recruited 60 overweight - obese women who were otherwise healthy, not
on hormonal contraceptives, and who could engage in cardio style exercise.
And yet multiple studies have shown that use of
hormonal contraceptives in young girls increases their risk of developing breast cancer by as much as six times.
The most high - profile state - level abortion debate of 2011 took place in Mississippi, where voters rejected the ballot initiative that would have legally defined a human embryo as a person «from the moment of fertilization,» setting the stage to ban all abortions and, potentially, most
hormonal contraceptive methods in the state.
Under this broad definition, a range of
hormonal contraceptives as well as some non-hormonal devices approved by the FDA to prevent pregnancy fall within the scope of the rule because they may work by interfering with implantation.
While it's common for health care providers in the United States to require or routinely perform a pelvic examination — with or without a Pap test — prior to prescribing hormonal birth control, several health organizations state that a pelvic exam isn't necessary in order to be safely prescribed
hormonal contraceptive pills, patches, shots, or rings.
The pill and other
hormonal contraceptives contain the female sex steroid hormones estrogen and progesterone, or progesterone alone, usually in synthetic forms.
A total of 29 percent of the women with MS and 24 percent of those without MS had used
hormonal contraceptives for at least three months in the three years before symptoms began.
However, taking
certain hormonal contraceptives may restrict your milk supply, according to the Australian Breastfeeding Association, so choose the mini pill or an IUD (e.g. Mirena) when breastfeeding.
If you want to read up more on
how hormonal contraceptives affect your physical and emotional health, then check out these popular blog posts.
European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology 110, no. 1 (2003): 66 - 72; Zakout, Y. M., et al. «Frequency of Candida species in Papanicolaou smears taken from Sudanese oral
hormonal contraceptives users.»
«Previous research suggests that estrogen partially accounts for women's preferences for specific qualities in their partners, and
[hormonal contraceptives] vary in the amount of estrogen they contain,» Russell said.
Even so, test for interaction
between hormonal contraceptive use and testosterone in relation to breast density was not significant, and this may be a chance finding.
Today's
hormonal contraceptives act on ovarian follicles that are already growing, and once that starts, there is no going back — if ovulation doesn't happen, the egg dies.
For more short and long - term recommendations for a healthy period, check out my step - by - step program, The Birth Control Protocol, to transition
off hormonal contraceptives and take back control of your hormones and your body.
** Note: Because
most hormonal contraceptives can interfere with the menstrual cycle and alter cervical fluid, it's not possible to actually monitor cycle signs for FAM while using such a method.
Particularly if you are over the age of 35, smoking cigarettes while using the NuvaRing can increase risk of heart problems from
combination hormonal contraceptives, so before you decide this is the best method for you, consider your lifestyle choices and have a discussion with your doctor.
It may also be heavier after childbirth if you'd been on hormonal birth control before pregnancy — such as the pill or some IUDs — since
hormonal contraceptives thin the endometrial lining.
The researchers reached these conclusions by performing a meta - analysis combining individual participant data from 18 prospective studies that
measured hormonal contraceptive use and incident HIV infection among women aged 15 - 49 years living in sub-Saharan Africa.
Dr. Bonny, also an assistant professor of pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, has been
studying hormonal contraceptives for more than 15 years.
Such a method is Norplant, a long - acting
hormonal contraceptive consisting of six silicone - coated rods, each containing 36 milligrams of the progestin levonorgestrel.
And yet, the International Agency on Research of Cancer, a branch of the World Health Organization,
classified hormonal contraceptives in 2005 as a group one carcinogen along with asbestos and radium.»
Hormones play a definite role in breast related problems, which is
why hormonal contraceptives and abortion are both linked to higher rates of breast cancer.
Even more disturbing are the rising rates of these estrogen mimicking compounds in the water supply that are a result of run off from factory farms and consumption of estrogen
based hormonal contraceptives.