Although women have traditionally used birth control pills for contraception, many are now realizing that the pills can serve multiple additional purposes, ranging from acne reduction to the alleviation of uncomfortable menstrual symptoms.
Because risks associated with taking birth control-which provide additional hormones to control ovulation and the shedding of the uterine lining-have decreased over the last few decades, women are feeling increasingly comfortable using them.
"Probably in the last five years, [using birth control] has been more popular," said Dr. Janet Keating, an assistant clinical professor with Student Health Services.
When birth control pills came out in the 1960s, each pill contained 150 milligrams of estrogen, a dose so high that it sometimes caused bloating, weight gain, nausea and strokes. Newer pills contain just 20 to 30 milligrams of estrogen, virtually eliminating those side effects. Keating said that roughly 10 percent of Duke women who use birth control pills do so strictly for medical reasons; about half who use birth control do so to alleviate cramps.
"I think birth control pills have been underused for many years." said Dr. Stanley Filip, associate clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology. "Besides their obvious contraceptive benefits, the non-contraceptive benefits have gotten little press."
Among those benefits is the pills' ability to successfully regulate a woman's period. Filip explained that the pill reduces blood loss as it stabilizes hormone fluctuations, resulting in less painful menstrual cycles. "Oral contraceptive pills limit how much endometrium builds up each month," he explained. "And cramps are usually proportional to how much blood loss occurs with each cycle."
In addition to reducing blood flow, birth control pills can assure a woman that she will have a normal four-week cycle. The first three weeks, she takes active birth control pills; the last week-in which menstruation begins-she takes placebo pills.
As a result, women who are likely to have irregular blood flow, such as younger women and also college athletes, often take birth control to regulate their cycles. "Athletes take birth control because they have a low percentage of body fat which causes their periods to be irregular and sporadic," explained Becky Griesse, a health education specialist with the Healthy Devil.
Some women even use birth control to stop their period for months at a time by continually taking active pills. "Period deletion is recommended and suggested for the occasional use, such as a woman who does not want her period on her honeymoon or a student who is studying abroad in the jungle somewhere," Keating said. However, due to the lack of data on the risks involved with long-term use, she warned against period deletion for longer than three months.
Birth control pills also have a variety of other uses. Medically, they can help prevent ovarian cancer and ovarian cyst formation as well as treat endometriosis.
Post-menopausal women can use birth control pills as hormone replacements and to prevent osteoporosis and heart disease. Certain birth control pills with higher levels of progesterone even help reduce acne.
Using birth control is not completely risk free. Doctors' largest concern is that the pills increase the likelihood of clotting, heart attacks and strokes for smokers over the age of 35.
But doctors also say that wome's fear that birth control pills may cause infertility is a myth. Although pregnancy is inhibited for one or two months-or in extreme cases a year-pregnancy can occur as usual once the hormones have left the body.
Most doctors say that the developments in birth control pills over the last several decades will likely increase the use of the pills in the future. Dr. Margeva Cole, a clinical associate in obstetrics and gynecology says taking birth control may one day feel "pretty much like taking a vitamin every day."
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