Increased rates of HIV infection were seen among women using depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (Depo-Provera or DMPA), whereas other methods of contraception including oral contraceptive pills or norethisterone enanthate (Net-En, an injectable progestin steroid) did not, according to a new meta-analysis.
Tag: progestin
What’s the Latest on Hormone Replacement for Prevention?
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is the use of estrogen alone (for women who have had a hysterectomy) or combined with progestin (for women with an intact uterus). It is primarily used in menopausal women for relief of symptoms, particularly hot flashes. For many years, providers recommended that women continue to take HRT after menopause to prevent chronic conditions such as heart disease.
Dyspareunia: Surgery and Low-Dose Progestin Both Effective
Surgery and low-dose progestin are similarly effective against endometriosis-associated severe deep dyspareunia, but the timing of their effects differs, according to the findings of a patient-preference, parallel cohort study.
IUDs Implants Encouraged for Teenage Girls
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Teenage girls looking for birth control should be encouraged to consider the long-lasting “set and forget” methods, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).
In new guidelines, ACOG says IUDs and contraceptive implants should be considered “first-line” birth control options for teenagers. The group issued similar advice for adult women last year (see Reuters Health story of June 21, 2011).
IUDs, or intrauterine devices, are implanted in the uterus, where they release small amounts of either copper or the hormone progestin to prevent pregnancy. The contraceptive implant, about the size of a matchstick, is inserted under the skin of the arm, where it releases controlled amounts of progestin. Read full article.
Novel Progestin Nestorone, Testosterone Promising as Transdermal Male Contraceptive
HOUSTON – Applying transdermal gels containing off-label testosterone and an experimental nonandrogenic progestin showed promise as a form of reversible contraception for men in a randomized, double-blind, controlled pilot study in 99 men.
Healthy male volunteers were randomized in three groups to apply gels containing 10 g of testosterone plus placebo or testosterone plus either 8 mg or 12 mg of Nestorone, an investigational synthetic nonandrogenic progestin. They were asked to apply the gels daily for 20-24 weeks, and 56 complied.
Progestin may reduce pregnancy chances
May 28 (UPI)
Progestin, a hormone used to treat infertility due to polycystic ovary syndrome, may reduce the odds of conception and giving birth, U.S. researchers say.
Dr. Michael P. Diamond of Wayne State University in Detroit, Dr. Richard S. Legro of the Pennsylvania State College of Medicine in Hershey and researchers at 16 institutions in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Cooperative Reproductive Medicine Network said polycystic ovary syndrome is a disorder in which the ovaries, and sometimes the adrenal glands, produce excess amounts of hormones.
Women with the disorder typically have menstrual irregularities and may have difficulty getting pregnant.
Infertility treatment for the condition typically involves ovulation induction — drug treatment to stimulate the release of an egg, but before ovulation induction, physicians often use a single course of progestin, which leads to a thickening in the lining of the uterus.
The idea behind the treatment is to simulate the bleeding that occurs at the beginning of the monthly menstrual cycle, Diamond explained.
However, women who skipped the progestin before receiving fertility drugs were four times more likely to conceive than were women given the hormone.
In addition, 20 percent of the women who did not receive progestin gave birth, compared with about 5 percent of the women who received progestin.
Injectable Contraceptives Linked to Increased Breast Cancer Risk
An injectable form of progestin-only birth control has been found to double the risk of breast cancer in young women after just a year or more of use, a new study suggests.
Use of Any Type of Hormones for Menopause Symptoms Raises Breast Cancer Risk, Study Suggests
It is already known that taking pills that combine estrogen and progestin — the most common type of hormone therapy — can increase breast cancer risk. But women who no longer have a uterus can take estrogen alone, which was thought to be safe and possibly even slightly beneficial in terms of cancer risk.