GOODBYE period cramps, headaches and nausea? Perhaps.
A new birth-control pill, designed to stop woman's period indefinitely, has been approved by the US government.
Yesterday, manufacturer Wyeth said that the pill, called Lybrel had won federal approval.
It is the first such pill to receive the Food and Drug Administration approval for continous use.
The estrogen-progestin hormonal pill differs from traditional birth-control pills in that it does not include the 'week off' of placebo pills that leads to bleeding.
Wyeth plans to start US Lybrel sales in July but it hasn't yet determined a price.
The pill, designed to be taken daily, contains a low dose of two hormones already widely used in birth-control pills - ethinyl estradiol and levonorgestrel.
Most of the roughly 12 million US women who take such pills do so to prevent pregnancy. Others rely on hormonal contraceptives to curb acne or regulate their monthly periods.
Some non-traditional pills such as Yaz and Loestrin 24 shorten monthly periods to three days or less. Seasonique, an updated version of Seasonale, reduces them to four times a year.
But in Lybrel tests, 59percent of women who took the medication had no bleeding after six months.
A DOWNSIDE?
However, instead of predictable bleeding every month, 18percent of the women in the tests often experienced spotting at random times, said Wyeth.
Still, a women's health expert said Lybrel would be a welcome addition for those who seek relief from the headaches, tender breasts, cramps and nausea that can accompany monthly periods.
'Over time, she will experience markedly less bleeding episodes or no bleeding episodes,' said DrVanessa Cullins, vice president for medical affairs at Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc.
Sociologist Jean Elson pointed to advantages for what she characterised as a small number of women who suffer extraordinarily during menstruation, but she said the pill left her with mixed feelings.
'For most women, menstruation is a normal life event - not a medical condition. Why medicate away a normal life event if we're not sure of the long-term effects?' said MissElson, who researches the sociology of gender and medical sociology.
In recent years, as the hormone content of birth-control pills has dipped, failure rates have climbed.
Generally, lower-dose birth-control pills can reduce the risk of serious and sometimes deadly side effects, including blood clots and stroke, associated with their use. -- AP
source : http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,131182,00.html
A new birth-control pill, designed to stop woman's period indefinitely, has been approved by the US government.
Yesterday, manufacturer Wyeth said that the pill, called Lybrel had won federal approval.
It is the first such pill to receive the Food and Drug Administration approval for continous use.
The estrogen-progestin hormonal pill differs from traditional birth-control pills in that it does not include the 'week off' of placebo pills that leads to bleeding.
Wyeth plans to start US Lybrel sales in July but it hasn't yet determined a price.
The pill, designed to be taken daily, contains a low dose of two hormones already widely used in birth-control pills - ethinyl estradiol and levonorgestrel.
Most of the roughly 12 million US women who take such pills do so to prevent pregnancy. Others rely on hormonal contraceptives to curb acne or regulate their monthly periods.
Some non-traditional pills such as Yaz and Loestrin 24 shorten monthly periods to three days or less. Seasonique, an updated version of Seasonale, reduces them to four times a year.
But in Lybrel tests, 59percent of women who took the medication had no bleeding after six months.
A DOWNSIDE?
However, instead of predictable bleeding every month, 18percent of the women in the tests often experienced spotting at random times, said Wyeth.
Still, a women's health expert said Lybrel would be a welcome addition for those who seek relief from the headaches, tender breasts, cramps and nausea that can accompany monthly periods.
'Over time, she will experience markedly less bleeding episodes or no bleeding episodes,' said DrVanessa Cullins, vice president for medical affairs at Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc.
Sociologist Jean Elson pointed to advantages for what she characterised as a small number of women who suffer extraordinarily during menstruation, but she said the pill left her with mixed feelings.
'For most women, menstruation is a normal life event - not a medical condition. Why medicate away a normal life event if we're not sure of the long-term effects?' said MissElson, who researches the sociology of gender and medical sociology.
In recent years, as the hormone content of birth-control pills has dipped, failure rates have climbed.
Generally, lower-dose birth-control pills can reduce the risk of serious and sometimes deadly side effects, including blood clots and stroke, associated with their use. -- AP
source : http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,131182,00.html