Contraceptives

It is widely known that the birth control pill is often prescribed for the treatment of women’s acne but do you REALLY know what causes acne, WHY the birth control pill is prescribed for this condition and which is the best birth control pill for treating acne? This  post will answer the first two questions, tomorrow’s post will help you to answer the third.

The FDA approved the birth control pill for the treatment of acne  in 1997.  If you are considering asking your doctor for one of the popular brands of birth control pills such as Desogen  and Yasmin, there are some facts you should know, especially if you have certain health problems or inherited medical conditions. I’m going to deal with each pill, one post at a time.  This post will deal with Desogen, the next one will address Yasmin, which seems to have a bigger following for acne treatment, due to one MAJOR change of ingredient.
What exactly is Desogen and How does Desogen treat acne?

Desogen is an oral birth control pill that contains a combination of synthetic female hormones to stop an egg being released from a woman’s ovary. If an egg is not released, it cannot be fertilized by a male sperm- so the woman cannot become pregnant. Most women take Desogen to prevent them from falling pregnant but others have found it to be extremely effective for clearing up their acne or significantly reducing breakouts.
Desogen does this by controlling the level of androgen (a male hormone) connected with the production of oil in our skin (from our sebaceous glands). 

Why does acne occur and what does it look like?

On the surface of our skin are little ‘breathing holes’ or pores and ‘pockets’ (follicles) out of which each hair grows. The sebaceous gland in each follicle produces oil or sebum. When too much sebum is produced, these glands become blocked and inflamed which results in pimples, ‘zits’ and blackheads - a chronic outbreak is known medically as acne.  In acute cases, these pustules can result in cysts or abscesses that become infected and scar the skin’s surface.  If the production of sebum can be decreased then the acne is usually reduced also.

Why is the amount of oil produced by our sebaceous glands important?

Since the hormone, androgen, controls the release of sebum, it is not surprising that if there is an imbalance in hormone levels, especially during adolescence, then there is going to be an imbalance in the level of sebum produced. Even though contraceptive pills work effectively on acne treatment, they are not ideal for teenagers to take if they are not sexually active (unless they have had a thorough talk to their doctor first).

Desogen and acne is a ‘balancing act’.

Since Desogen affects the level of the androgen hormone within a woman’s body, it follows that every woman’s body will be operating on varying levels of hormone production so, to some degree,  it is trial and error with a contraceptive medication  such as Desogen for controlling the level of sebum produced and therefore controlling the severity of her acne. It is for this reason that Desogen can be extremely effective or in some cases, just not be compatible with the level of androgen being produced in certain women so their acne seems to get worse.  Ethinyl etradiol is the synthetic estrogen in contraceptive pills that affects the level of androgen.

The birth control pill, Desogen, resolves acne conditions in many women

Doctors prescribe Desogen specifically for the treatment of acne in woman they consider suitable for this combination of synthetic hormones. Woman who can take Desogen will find that this birth control pill balances their hormones effectively and is the ideal drug for helping them to manage their acne.

It should be noted though, that no single treatment for acne, including Desogen, should be relied upon to treat this severe skin condition. A dirty skin, make up and bacteria also aggravate acne so topical products, such as lotions, creams and anti bacterial skin cleansers should be considered for use in conjunction with Desogen.

Always consult your doctor if you wish to try Desogen for your acne treatment and tell him which other medications/topical products you are also using.

As with many medications, however, some women find they do experience various side effects when taking Desogen.
Some common side effects include nausea, headaches, slight bleeding, weight gain (less likely with Yasmin) and possible mood changes.
After taking Desogen for three months, many of these effects disappear but you should monitor your body closely and consider a different treatment, maybe switching to Yasmin, if they persist or if they worsen.

The clearly documented risks associated with all contraceptive pills  must be noted for Desogen also, whether taken for acne or as  your preferred birth control method. These risks include stroke, blood clotting and breast cancer (although the contraceptive pill has positive benefits in reducing ovarian and uterine cancer)

Smoking is bad for you anyway but the risks of developing heart disease increase if you are on the ‘pill’.

If you do take Desogen to prevent acne, take it as prescribed by your doctor - even if you save money by buying  it on line

Missing a dose of Desogen or Yasmin will not have such a bad effect on your acne but it will affect your risk of getting pregnant if you are sexually active.
Check the leaflet that comes with the Desogen pack if you miss a pill and of course, if you are unsure as to whether you can two pills on one day, check with your doctor or medical practitioner. To reduce the anxiety or stress further, it would be wise to use additional contraception at this time.

Desogen is ideal for reducing the painful and embarrassing condition of acne in many women but unfortunately it is unsuitable for a certain percentage of woman. It is probably worth trying though as the benefits can be excellent and it is likely that if you keep in contact with your doctor you will eventually find a combination of the ‘pill’ and a topical skin product that will help you through your acne ‘chapter’.

Come back here tomorrow to see what makes YASMIN different from all the other oral contraceptives and why many women would argue that this oral contraceptive, not Desogen, is the best birth control pill for acne.

Oral contraceptives and risks-  alarming headlines can often be misleading when it comes to oral
contraceptive research so it pays not to assume anything on first ’skimming’. Rather, investigate a bit more deeply if it’s something that is likely to affect you and your body and your own future management of contraception.  A whisper about ‘new’ evidence on oral contraceptives, either positive or negative,  can generate mass over reaction and exaggeration.  Find out for yourself as much as you can before allowing the results of studies and ‘findings from the latest research’ influence any decision you are about to make about a specific contraceptive you are considering.

One of the agreed benefits of taking combined oral contraceptives that emerged from many global studies over the years,  is that they reduce the risk of ovarian cancer.  It now seems that they may also slightly reduce the risk of colon cancer .  According to lead researcher Dr. Geoffrey C. Kabat, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York it’s too soon to leap ahead and conclude this yet but in a study of nearly 90,000 Canadian women aged 40- 59, it was found that those who had ever used contraceptive pills were 17 percent less likely to develop colon cancer over the next 16 years.  Interestingly, this was NOT the case for women on HRT (hormone replacement therapy)

These results regarding oral contraceptives were published in the International Journal of Cancer after a breast cancer screening study was carried out on 89,835 Canadian women over a period of 16 years. Studies with smaller groups have also been done in Italy between 1985 and 1996 with similar results.

It seems to me that there are so many other factors to be considered such as lifestyle, weight, medical history of family for colon cancer and not least the various doses of hormones in all the different types of oral contraceptives,  so I think it will be quite a while before any firm statement will be made on this one.

We cannot ignore the real side effects that some women experience when taking oral contraceptives and if this is your preferred method of birth control, it may take a few ‘trials’ to find the right one to suit you. However, most women who take ‘the pill’ would argue that reliability and convenience far outweigh the possible risks. One third of women also take the contraceptive pill for non contraceptive reasons.

Dr. Judith Reichman, the TODAY show’s medical contributor on women’s health, has practiced obstetrics and gynecology for more than 20 years and has recently written an article to balance out the negative with a positive, factual report on findings from the latest studies on oral contraceptives.

The full article can be READ HERE but below are the main points to bring you quickly up to date.

6 benefits of using oral contraceptives:

1. protects against pregnancy - when used perfectly, failure rate only 3%
2. relieves PMS - decreases cramps by as much as 50%
3. regulates periods and decreases blood loss by 45% = lighter periods
4. use of the pill for more than 2 yrs. can DECREASE the risk of ovarian cancer by as much as 70% - combined oral contraceptives , containing estrogen and progestin, are the ONLY current method of preventing ovarian cancer. Studies have also shown that women whose mothers had breast cancer are not a higher risk of getting this disease if they continue to take the pill
5. decreases acne by 50%
6. higher dose pills have been shown to decrease the development of cysts in the ovaries and also fibroids in the uterus (though low dose pills may not be as effective)

A quote from DR. Reichman’s article.

“The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has stated that the current or past use of birth control among 35- to 64-year-old women didn’t increase their risk of breast cancer. They even checked women who are known to have a mutation in the genes related to breast and ovarian cancer (called the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes) and found that a low-dose pill still didn’t increase their breast cancer risk. They have found, though, that COC use will decrease the risk of ovarian cancer in these women.”

I shall be presenting further articles on the topic of hormonal contraceptives and cancer so that you can read other views and statistics and make up your own mind as to whether you wish to use ‘the pill’.

Remember, doctors are busy people- it is a daunting task to keep up with the latest medical studies on EVERY disease and the results of EVERY drug study so if the information in the Dr. Reichman’s article triggers a concern about the oral contraceptive you are using, you know what to do- discuss it with your doctor.

Pills do not protect against STDs so if you want a reliable on line supplier of condoms and other goodies go here.