Birth Control News and Research

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Vaginal gel shown to protect female monkeys against an HIV-like virus

Research with female monkeys at the Tulane National Primate Research Center has for the first time shown that three different anti-viral agents in a vaginal gel protect the animals against an HIV-like virus.

1 Nov 2005

Isotretinoin-related birth defects

Isotretinoin (also known as Accutane) is a drug used to treat severe acne, but it can cause birth defects when taken by pregnant women. Because of these risks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Roche Pharmaceuticals (Accutane's manufacturer) developed a voluntary pregnancy prevention program (PPP) in 1988 to try and prevent conception in women taking the drug.

16 Oct 2005

Vaccine against group B streptococcus

Common bacteria that live harmlessly in the gastrointestinal tract and vagina of 25 percent of women can become lethal if a newborn gets exposed to them during birth.

20 Sep 2005

FDA dragging its heels yet again over 'morning after' pill Plan B

Women in the U.S., unlike their counterparts in the UK and other countries, will still be denied easy access to the 'morning after' contraceptive pill, Plan B, after a decision by the Food and Drug Administration to yet again delay ruling on over-the-counter sales.

29 Aug 2005

FDA places very tight restrictions on acne drug Accutane

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said late last week, that in future, patients and doctors will have to register with manufacturers and promise to comply with tight restrictions, before using the acne drug Accutane and it's generic versions.

14 Aug 2005

Morning after pill - FDA must decide by September

Apparently federal health officials will soon decide whether to allow the sale of emergency contraception without a prescription.

10 Aug 2005

Birth control pill increases risks of cervical and breast cancer

Scientists are now saying that women who take the birth control pill could be increasing their risk of cervical and breast cancer.

31 Jul 2005

Women automatically associate sex with submission

A University of Michigan study suggests that women, but not men, automatically associate sex with submission and that connection reduces the quality of their sexual experience.

19 Jul 2005

Low dose birth control pill raises heart attack risk, especially in some women

A new review suggests that low-dose birth control pills, which are generally considered to be safer than the pill of the past, still carries an increased risk for heart attack and stroke.

11 Jul 2005

Sexual abstinence unrealistic - pediatricians say teens need birth control and emergency contraception pill

In complete contrast to the abstinence-only approach to sex education favored by religious groups and President Bush, an eminent group of pediatricians is saying that what todays' teenagers need is better access to birth control and emergency contraception.

6 Jul 2005

Conservatives and sexual abstinence groups battle with FDA over condoms - they offer little protection against STD's

Although condoms are an effective method of contraception and stop the spread of AIDS, evidence that they protect against other sexually transmitted diseases is scant.

30 Jun 2005

AIDS expert says global strategy needed to combat feminization of HIV/AIDS

Thomas C. Quinn, M.D., a Johns Hopkins physician and scientist, who has spent the best part of the last 25 years leading major efforts to combat HIV and AIDS throughout the world, is calling for global strategies and resources to confront the rapid "feminization" of the AIDS pandemic.

10 Jun 2005

Urgent call for global strategies and resources to confront the rapid "feminization" of the AIDS pandemic

In an article appearing in the journal Science online June 10, Thomas C. Quinn, M.D., professor of infectious diseases at Hopkins and a senior investigator at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, reports that women have in the last 20 years moved from those least affected by HIV to those in whom the disease is spreading fastest.

10 Jun 2005

Organon obtains license for Merck's novel oral contraceptive

Akzo Nobel's human healthcare business, Organon, has been granted worldwide development and marketing rights by Merck KGaA affiliate Laboratoire Théramex for its novel oral contraceptive EMM 310066.

1 Jun 2005

Taking the contraceptive pill may permanently supress womens libido

According to their research, a team at Boston University Medical College found that women who take the pill regularly have much lower levels of the hormone that drives sexual desire, and even more worrying, that hormone remains suppressed even when they come off the pill.

29 May 2005

A drug that controls blood pressure and reduces heart risk also appears to protect against diabetes

In new results from the VALUE trial that pitted the drug valsartan against another blood pressure drug, amlodipine, the patients taking valsartan were found to have a 23 percent lower risk of developing diabetes during the four or more years of the study.

18 May 2005

Distributing medications in specially designed blister packages rather than in bottles may increase the likelihood that medications will be taken properly

The study found that patients taking lisinopril – a medication used to treat chronic high blood pressure – were more likely to have their prescriptions refilled on time if the medication came in a blister package rather than as loose tablets in a bottle. In this case, the blister package clearly started the day on which to take each pill.

16 May 2005

HIV treatment not affected by hormonal birth control

Estrogen and progesterone hormones in birth control do not influence the effectiveness of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), which is used to treat HIV infection, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and other institutions. The study is published in the May 1, 2005, issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

2 May 2005

Hormonal contraceptives increase risk of HSV-2 transmission

Women who are infected with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) may have an increased risk of transmitting the virus to others if they use hormonal contraceptives or have certain bacterial vaginal infections, according to an article in the May 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.

6 Apr 2005

New drug approved for treating endometriosis

Drug manufacturer Pfizer announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given approval for the release of depo-subQ provera 104 to be prescribed for the management of pain associated with endometriosis, a gynecological condition that affects one in ten women of reproductive age.

30 Mar 2005