SINCE ITS LAUNCH IN THE UK IN 1961, THE PILL IS NOW AVAILABLE IN 32 DIFFERENT FORMS AND IS TAKEN BY ABOUT 100 MILLION WOMEN AROUND THE WORLD
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follow in quick succession with the slogan ‘children by choice, not chance’.
Since its launch in the UK in 1961, the pill is now available in 32 different forms and is taken by about 100 million women around the world, including 3.5 million women in Britain between the ages of 16 and 49. Almost nine out of ten women who take the pill take either the combined pill or ‘mini pill’.
Over the past sixty years, the pill has been dogged by health scares. Indeed, immediately following its launch in the US, it was linked with increased incidence of blood clots, strokes, heart attacks and diabetes.
Despite the negative publicity, however, the number of women taking it continued to rise, even following reports linking a combination of the pill and smoking leading to increased risk of blood clots in the 1970s.
In the early 1980s, further reports of potential links between use of the pill and breast cancer,
strokes, heart attacks etc, saw uptake of the pill decrease slightly.
One study, which looked at women who had used oral contraceptives for more than four years before having a full-term pregnancy, found that there was an increase of 125% in the risk of breast cancer.
This risk was further compounded by a series of studies in the 1990s, which seemed to confirm the study’s findings.
In 1995, there was a further health scare in the UK over thrombosis, and this led once again to not only a drop in usage, but also – perhaps unsurprisingly - an increase in the number of pregnancies and abortions. In 2000, the scare was declared unfounded by a report, which was published in the British Medical Journal.
Since then, there has been more positive news on the effects of the pill. In addition to the fact that it can make periods more regular, it has also been shown to protect against cancer of the ovaries and the lining of the womb lining, and against pelvic inflammatory disease.
Despite the positive aspects of the oral contraceptive, however, the pill is still not recommended for women over 35 who smoke heavily, the obese, or those with high blood pressure, a history of heart disease or a history of blood clots.
Prior to the arrival of the pill, birth control methods were rather more strange and startling!
Vaginal suppositories Examples have been discovered from around 1850BC of Egyptian women mixing sodium carbonate with honey or even animal dung to create vaginal suppositories.
Natural ointments The Greeks and the Romans made basic spermicides by combining natural ingredients such as olive oil and cedar oil to the entrance of the womb in the hope it would reduce the chances of pregnancy.
Latex condoms The history of the condom dates back to Ancient Greece, where King Minos of Crete is said to have used the bladder of a goat to protect his wife during intercourse. The Romans also recorded using bladders as condoms. The latex condom, which is widely used today, was invented in the 1920s by dispersing rubber in water.
THE PILL HAS BEEN SHOWN TO PROTECT AGAINST CANCER OF THE OVARIES AND PELVIC INFLAMMATORY DISEASE
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scottishpharmacist.com
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