Periods could become a thing of the past thanks to a new pill.
An increasing number of British women are skipping periods by taking their pill without a break every 21 days. Since 2003 US women have been using Seasonale, a birth control pill which limits periods to 4 per year. Now another US company is about to market the first continuous-use birth control pill, Lybrel.
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Seasonale is likely to be introduced into the UK market later this year and will change the whole face of the contraception debate.
British women are already taking action themselves. The average woman has between 420 and 520 periods in her life - that's 12-13 periods a year for 35 to 40 years. Thanks to the contraceptive pill, which is taken by 3.5 million women aged 16 to 49, missing periods is possible.
How safe is it long-term?
The NHS errs on the side of cautiuon when it comes to skipping periods. They advise,
"Taking two packs back-to-back is safe, if it's done occasionally. We don't advise taking more than two packs together without stopping for a period."
July 2006 |
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