NEW YORK, May 21, 2007
Birth Control With A Boost
A Pill Up For FDA Approval Would Put A Stop To A Woman's Menstruation
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Play CBS Video Video End Of The Period? Doctors studying the new pill Lybrel, which curtails menstruation, say it is no riskier than the traditional pill. But some medical researchers would like to see more studies. Michelle Miller reports.
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Video End Of Monthly Periods? "The Early Show" medical correspondent Dr. Emily Senay talks to Julie Chen about the risks and benefits of Lybrel, a new birth control pill that eliminates periods.
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Rosa Nolasco says using Lybrel, which eliminates periods, was a boon for her. (CBS)
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Quiz Rx For Safe Medicines Medicines: How Savvy Are You?
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Interactive HealthWatch Explore health issues including AIDS, cancer and antibiotics.
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Video Archive Eye On Health CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook examines various health issues and treatments.
Her period was so bad it became her monthly menace. The 39-year-old mother of four suffered all the classic symptoms of PMS. Then she took Lybrel.
"It was just no cramping, no bloating, no chocolate craving or any of that stuff," Nolasco tells CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller.
Lybrel is a new kind of birth-control pill that not only prevents pregnancy, it eliminates periods. Period.
Dr. Anne Davis led a clinical trial on the drug.
"What women need to know about Lybrel that makes it different from other pills is that it's something you take every day," Davis says. "There's no week off as there is with traditional birth control."
Doctors studying the new pill say it's no riskier than the traditional pill. But medical researcher Linda Andrist would like to see more studies on its long-term safety.
"We don't know about bone health, breast cancer, heart disease, strokes — especially for young women," Andrist says.
The very idea of this drug makes some women nervous.
"Maybe it would be better to let nature run its course," one woman says.
"I feel that's slightly unnatural, and it would be a little unnerving," says another.
The fact is, women have been manipulating their menstrual cycles with birth control pills for the last 40 years. All forms of the pill work by stopping ovulation and suppressing periods.
There's already a pill that limits menstruation to four times per year. Lybrel will be marketed as the next step.
"I would call it more of an evolution, not a revolution," Davis tells Miller.
It's one with big business potential. One-third of women in one survey said they would like to say good-bye to what they call the monthly curse.
"It makes life a lot more convenient," one woman says.
That may be the real attraction to women — the ability to make periods a lifestyle choice and not just a fact of life.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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That was pretty lame.
If they can tout Viagra, Cialis, etc for the guys AND DOWNPLAY the side effects in those pills despite ED "naturally" occurring as Men age and not gripe about it being "unnatural" - they can provide this to women that believe that it may provide "benefits" to also.
God doesn't think He is a doctor.
Posted by mkbjon at 04:52 PM : May 22, 2007
An aspirin takes away a headache, a coffee gives you energy you didn't have. Are these scary? Do they play god? Humans have used herbs from the beginning of time to alleviate pains, and discomforts. The difference now is that we have scientific methods and clinical trials.
I get the weird impression that every drug related to female sexuality and reproduction gets much more scrutiny and diffidence than others. Is there some lingering religious superstition hanging in the air? Why don't we get this kind of "are we playing god" postings for articles about the next drug for diabetes, migraine or arthritis?
Now, as for a drug that blocks your periods. When I was 40, I went through premature menopause. Back then, before they decided to pull hormone replacement therapy from the market for safety reasons, I took one Premarin and one Provera every day. I was told the Premarin built up the lining of your uterus and the Provera helped you pass the lining (translation, a period). I was told the Provera was critical, because in some studies, the lining not being passed caused cancer of the uterus.
So, there you have it ladies - I'd wait a few years until this drug is field tested.
I was used to being strong. The change of life robboed me of that. I am 52 now. I have every thing but they shut down years ago by nature. Be careful what you wish for.
Posted by lantz56 at 12:00 PM : May 22, 2007
This isn't a new drug. It is the exact same pill in commerce, except it doesn't have the "dummy" pills for the week you should have your period. I have been skipping my periods for a couple of years now, by simply starting a new pack of pills instead of taking the "dummies". So far, I haven't seen any negative side effect, and the convenience is way worth it.
Also for those that talk about changing nature, etc, you obviously are not aware that women in our early history almost never had periods because they were always either pregnant or nursing. The pill simply recreates the same condition, but without having to be pregnant to get there.
So, drug testing is basically a take it and see what happens -- followed by statistical reporting. Patient drug hours in my lay observation, appear to be accumulated horizontally (by adding more participants - thereby increasing the footprint of patient hours) though this is not not acutally the same as longitudinal hours ... simple logic.
I had 2 bad experiences with the Depo shot. First time was after I had my 7 year old. My doc told me I had to wait the 6 weeks after you have a kid, let my normal cycle return and when THAT first normal cycle was over that I could get the shot. That is what I did. I had my cycle every day for about 9 months. Second time was after I had my miscarriage last year in June (my doc wanted me to wait 6 months before I tried to get pregnant again, hence the birth control.) I told my new doc what had ha[[ened when I had the depo before and she said "NO, you take the shot the DAY your period starts and you won't have that problem." Here it is May, 1 month longer than before, and my cycle is still messed up. I had my cycle every day until March and now I might have it for a week w/a week off or I might have it every other day. I know the DEPO shot reacts differently to a lot of woman but I would NOT reccomend it.
So how do any drugs work? You take many drugs every day - caffein, nicotine, painkillers....They all alter so called 'natural' processes! This is just another drug to make women's (and men's) lives easier.
- by fancykat May 21, 2007 10:25 PM EDT
- I have been on the depo shot for 13 years and it stops your periods completely and I am healthy as can be and also I was told by a cancer doctor that not having periods lessen your chance by 80% of getting overian cancer.
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