Contraceptive News and Research

RSS

Combined contraceptive pill does not cause weight gain in young women

Many young women do not want to start taking the contraceptive pill because they are worried that they will put on weight, or come off it because they think that they have gained weight because of it. However, a thesis from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, has demonstrated that the combined contraceptive pill does not cause weight increase.

8 Jun 2011

Non-steroidal, oral contraceptive for men

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center are honing in on the development of what may be the first non-steroidal, oral contraceptive for men. Tests of low doses of a compound that interferes with retinoic acid receptors (RARs), whose ligands are metabolites of dietary vitamin A, showed that it caused sterility in male mice.

7 Jun 2011

Safety of birth control pills under scrutiny

Bayer’s oral contraceptive pills are being reviewed by regulators after some studies suggested they may cause more blood clots than competing medicines.

5 Jun 2011

UNAIDS Director says Pope's comments on condoms open dialogue for HIV prevention

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe on Saturday "told a Vatican conference [Pope Benedict XVI] had opened the door to greater dialogue with his groundbreaking comments on condoms and HIV prevention - even as Vatican officials stressed abstinence and marital fidelity as the best prevention," the Associated Press reports.

1 Jun 2011

Birth control pill safety issues raised

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that it is looking at results from two studies that showed there is a higher risk of blood clots in women taking new birth control pills containing the compound drospirenone. Some brand names include Yaz, Yasmin, Beyaz, Ocella, Loryna, Gianvi, Safyral, Syeda and Zarah.

1 Jun 2011

Long-term exposure to estrogen increases high blood pressure in women

For many years doctors believed the estrogen women consumed in the form of oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy pills was good for their patients' hearts. Recent studies however have shown that long-term exposure to estrogen can be a danger to women as it has been associated with high blood pressure, a key link to heart- and brain-attacks.

27 May 2011

Vatican newspaper article addresses condom use among married couples

Three days before the start of a Vatican conference focusing on "the centrality of care" in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, the Vatican's official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, on Tuesday printed a piece by Spanish theologian Juan Jose Perez-Soba arguing that married couples with one HIV-positive partner "should abstain from sex, because intercourse performed with a condom is, 'from the moral point of view, not a fully conjugal act,'" RNS/Beliefnet News reports.

26 May 2011

Sosei to introduce NorLevo oral emergency contraceptive in Japan

Sosei Group Corporation, the biopharmaceutical company, today announced that Sosei Co., Ltd., its wholly owned Japanese subsidiary, will launch its emergency contraceptive pill, NorLevo(R) TABLETS 0.75mg, tomorrow 24 May, through the distribution network of its commercialization partner, ASKA Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

23 May 2011

16 Countries announce new commitments to reduce maternal, newborn and child mortality

Today 16 countries announced new commitments to dramatically reduce maternal, newborn and child mortality, as part of the Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health.

21 May 2011

16 Countries pledge to reduce maternal, newborn, child mortality

Sixteen countries have announced new commitments aimed at significantly reducing maternal, newborn and child mortality by "focus[ing] on measures proven effective in preventing deaths, such as increased contraceptive use, attended childbirth, improved access to emergency obstetric care, prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and childhood immunizations," ANI/Sify News reports (5/20).

21 May 2011

Bill to expand reproductive health services in the Philippines introduced in country's Congress

A reproductive health bill introduced Tuesday in the House of Representatives in the Philippines "would require the government to provide information on family planning methods, make contraceptives available free of charge and introduce reproductive health and sexuality classes in schools," the Associated Press/Seattle Times reports, noting the scope of controversy surrounding this issue.

20 May 2011

Critics say program offering money for contraception to HIV-positive Kenyan women is illegal

IRIN/Plus News reports that "the Kenyan government and rights groups have expressed outrage at a project in western Kenya that is paying HIV-positive women to undergo long-term contraception."

17 May 2011

Report calls for developing new methods of contraception for women in developing countries

Women in the developing world need new methods of contraception that meet their needs and lifestyles, according to a Guttmacher Institute report that urges more investment in contraceptive technology, Agence France-Presse reports.

16 May 2011

Opinions: U.S. child survival programs; global family planning; impact of nuclear fallout; success in global health

"Over my 22 years in Congress, programs that support child survival around the world have enjoyed bipartisan support and have saved millions of young lives worldwide. Unfortunately, funding for these lifesaving programs is at risk now. ... We should not give up now on a great American achievement: helping more of the world's mothers and children survive," Rep. Donald Payne writes in Star-Ledger opinion piece that highlights the successes of U.S. global health programs.

11 May 2011

New drugs need to provide more data on how they compare with existing ones: Study

According to US researchers, data on drugs that could save money and help doctors make smarter treatment decisions are often unavailable at the time new medicines hit the market. They released a study this Tuesday in Journal of the American Medical Association which found nearly a third of new drug approvals from the Food and Drug Administration included no data on how well the medications compare with existing alternatives.

5 May 2011

U.N. report forecasts global population increases through 2100

The world's population "is expected to grow from nearly 6.9 billion currently to 9.3 billion by 2050 and 10.1 billion by 2100," the U.N. said in a report on Tuesday, the Associated Press reports, noting that the U.N. uses the projections "to devise and fund programs for problems ranging from climate change to maternal mortality".

5 May 2011

Researchers discover new mechanism by which BRCA1 gene mutations can induce breast cancer

Two researchers from the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona have discovered a new mechanism by which mutations in gene BRCA1 can induce breast cancer.

5 May 2011

Watson launches Generess Fe low-dose oral contraceptives in the U.S.

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., today announced the U.S. commercial launch of Generess Fe 0.8 mg/25 mcg, a new low-dose oral contraceptive option that's highly effective at preventing pregnancy and proven to provide users with short, lighter, predictable periods.

2 May 2011

Many herbal medicines banned under EU directives

According to the new EU rules that came into force over the weekend, hundreds of herbal remedies are now banned. The laws are aimed at protecting consumers from potentially damaging “traditional” medicines.

1 May 2011

Merck first quarter sales increase 1% to $11.6 billion for 2011

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced financial results for the first quarter of 2011.

30 Apr 2011

Contraceptive News and Research

Combined contraceptive pill does not cause weight gain in young women

Non-steroidal, oral contraceptive for men

Safety of birth control pills under scrutiny

UNAIDS Director says Pope's comments on condoms open dialogue for HIV prevention

Birth control pill safety issues raised

Long-term exposure to estrogen increases high blood pressure in women

Vatican newspaper article addresses condom use among married couples

Sosei to introduce NorLevo oral emergency contraceptive in Japan

16 Countries announce new commitments to reduce maternal, newborn and child mortality

16 Countries pledge to reduce maternal, newborn, child mortality

Bill to expand reproductive health services in the Philippines introduced in country's Congress

Critics say program offering money for contraception to HIV-positive Kenyan women is illegal

Report calls for developing new methods of contraception for women in developing countries

Opinions: U.S. child survival programs; global family planning; impact of nuclear fallout; success in global health

New drugs need to provide more data on how they compare with existing ones: Study

U.N. report forecasts global population increases through 2100

Researchers discover new mechanism by which BRCA1 gene mutations can induce breast cancer

Watson launches Generess Fe low-dose oral contraceptives in the U.S.

Many herbal medicines banned under EU directives

Merck first quarter sales increase 1% to $11.6 billion for 2011

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC

Latest News