Beyond birth control: the other uses of oral contraceptives

When people hear of oral contraceptives, they immediately think birth control. But the truth is the controversial pills have a number of other uses as well.

 

“’Yung pills kasi, hindi lang siya for proper spacing. May mga gynecological diseases na nagagamot ito,” said Ludy Geraldes, representative for new contraceptive pill Couleurs La Femme, in an interview with GMA News Online.

 

Obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Raul Quillamor explained that aside from preventing ovulation, the combination of estrogen and progesterone in oral contraceptives allows for the treatment of common conditions that a lot of women experience. 

 

The following are the non-contraceptive uses of oral contraceptives, according to Quillamor:

 

1. Acne control

 

Among the more popular conditions treated or controlled by oral contraceptives is acne, Quillamor said.

 

“Nagpre-prescribe ang derma nito as an adjunctive therapy to control acne,” obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Raul Quillamor told GMA News Online.

 

2. Treatment for polycystic ovarian syndrome

 

Quillamor said that the pill is prescribed to those who suffer from polycystic ovarian syndrome, which causes menstrual disturbances, ovarian cysts, and infertility, among other symptoms.

 

3. Regulate menstrual cycles

 

According to Quillamor, the hormones in female contraceptive pills can help regularize the menstrual cycles of women who experience infrequent menstruation.

 

4. Prevent anemia

 

“Ginagamit rin ‘to sa mga patients na heavy bleeder, to lessen blood loss during menstruation, so it can also prevent anemia,” Quillamor explained. 

 

5. Lower ovarian cancer risk

 

Quillamor noted that the pill can even decrease the risk for ovarian cancer by almost half.

 

According to an article on the Oxford University website, researchers from the institute found in 2008 that taking contraceptive pills for 10 years can reduce the risk of ovarian cancer by 45 percent.

 

Researchers also found that women who took the pill for any length of time lowered their risk for ovarian cancer by 15 percent, reducing the risk further by taking the pill for longer.

 

“The Pill also causes long-lasting protection against endometrial cancer (cancer or the lining of the womb) but causes a short-lived increase in breast cancer and in cervical cancer (cancer of the neck of the womb),” the article said.

 

“Young women take the Pill mostly for contraceptive purposes. There are known to be some definite health risks among current or recent users. But these are outweighed by the long-term protective effects against ovarian cancer—one of the most dangerous types of cancer,” the article concluded.

 

Giving women a choice

 

Ultimately, Geraldes said that contraceptive pills offer women another choice for family planning methods.

 

“We created Couleurs La Femme with the modern Filipina in mind, knowing that more Filipinas these days want to savor the very best that life can offer while balancing the demands of their families and careers,” she said. 

 

However, Geraldes added that “about 25 percent of women of reproductive age do not have the right information and access to the choices available to them.”

 

Responding to RH bill detractors who criticize contraceptives as abortifacients, Geraldes told GMA News Online, “we actually know that oral contraceptives are not abortifacients because the action of the pill is to prevent fertilization—walang pregnancy na nangyayari.”

 

Contraceptive use among women in the Philippines 

 

Contraceptives remain to be a controversial method of family planning in the Philippines, and have been banned in some areas. 

 

According to the results of the 2011 Family Health Survey by the National Statistics Office, only 43.1 percent of women in poor households and 51.3 percent in non-poor households practice any family planning method.

 

The study also revealed that while the pill remains to be the most popular contraceptive method, only 18.7 percent of poor women and 20.3 percent of non-poor women use it.

 

The study also showed that less educated women are less likely to practice family planning. Only around 20 percent of women with no education and over 40 percent of women with some elementary education use family planning methods. Meanwhile, at least 50 percent of women who have reached higher levels of education practice family planning. –KG, GMA News