A possibility for women say goodbye to PMS thanks to the launch of the continuous contraceptive pill, Lybrel.
PMS is an experience faced by menstruating women every month at various degrees of severity. Its full form is pre-menstrual syndrome and it is felt in a variety of ways: stomach pain, migraine, mood swings, irritability, bloating and food cravings.
Lybrel is manufactured by US based Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and as Ginger Constantine, vice-president of Women's Health Care and Bone Repair says ''The drug has been developed for women who find the current need to stop taking the pill for one week every month inconvenient, and for those who suffer from the hormonal fluctuations to which this can contribute."
The practice followed by women worldwide who are on the pill is to take the pill for 21 days and follow it by either no pill or a dummy tablet for the remaining 7 days of the month during which the period occurs. PMS begins to make its presence felt a week before the menstrual cycle and fades away within a few days of the start of the cycle.
However, the new pill, Lybrel, will be taken continuously thereby ensuring that women avoid having periods for as long as they wish to and of course, avoid PMS altogether. Containing both oestrogen and progestogen, Lybrel taken in varying doses through the month will combat PMS effectively.
However, critics say that the picture is not as rosy as it is made out to be. Blood clots and breast cancer have been known to be associated with consumption of oral contraceptives. Women's fertility will also take a beating with steady hormonal intake.
Wyeth is confident that its product, Lybrel is on safe ground since it has undertaken a study to verify its effects. 'Our findings show that 99 per cent of the 187 women in our studies began their periods within three months of stopping taking the pill,' said Constantine.
While it is indeed a major shift for women to avoid the menstrual cycle completely, there is no medical reason to advise against it. Women in the traditional mold starting from the sixties have felt the need for the occurrence of the menstrual cycle to ensure a feeling of normalcy. However, women's attitudes today have undergone a major transformation with a greater need for convenience and comfort.
'It is completely safe to suppress menstruation for years at a time,' said Toni Belford, director of information at the FPA, formerly the Family Planning Association. 'It is not natural for women to have as many periods as they do now. A few generations ago women would have had virtually no periods for years at a time because they would have spent all their child-bearing years either pregnant or breastfeeding.'
In its efforts to market the product in a wider ambit, Wyeth is seeking to get Lybrel's application for license granted in the U.S. and Europe.
