The discovery of oral contraceptives pills was an important advance in medicine and an achievement in terms of freedom for women. Introduced in the 1960’s, this little pill has brought, over the years, great changes in behavior, lifestyle, work and, mainly, in relationships. A real sexual revolution for women.
This contraceptive method also gave women the responsibility of family planning. The decision of having children or not, and the time to have them, stood with them.
But not everything is perfect. A continuous contraceptive use can interfere in women’s health and with strong side effects.
That’s what we are going to talk about now. I have asked Dr. Wesley Shunk, a nutrologists and specialist in Preventive Medicine, and Partner of Sport & Health about the harmful effects of this medicine.
Dr. Wesley highlights the risk of thrombosis. He said the use of oral pills with drospirenone that have recently entered the market has higher rates of risk of venous thrombosis in women than older pills, which carry the synthetic hormone levonorgestrel. He points out that the use of contraceptive vaginal ring or contraceptive patch, which also take hormones to the female body, also expose women to the risk of thrombosis.
Hormones like estrogen and progesterone, present in the pills, can affect blood clotting.
Although estrogen could be considered the great villain of the story, the formulas that take progesterone must also be observed.
You should be careful if you have family members with circulatory problems. In these cases, attention must be doubled because the risk of thrombosis is even greater with the use of contraceptive pills.
Women with diabetes, migraine, kidney failure and breast, ovarian or endometrial cancer should also strongly avoid using pills. Cancer cells feed on hormones released by the body.
People with cirrhosis, acute hepatitis and liver failure should also avoid using these pills: they have already overburdened their liver and the pill is metabolized there.
Other common symptoms due to the use of the pill are: loss of libido, weak muscle tone, cardiovascular complications and alteration of normal body functioning.
And girls, don’t forget to talk to your partner about what possibilities may be beneficial for you, without jeopardizing the relationship!
A suggestion from Dr. Wesley to escape the contraceptives is the use of copper IUD, which does not release synthetic hormones in your body.
Send your questions to Dr. Wesley Shunk!
See more about the side effects, the use, control and care in this interview of Dr. Drauzio Varella.
