Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0149871 (deep vein thrombosis)
 12,364 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The overall risk of oral contraceptive (OC) use is minimal when women over 35 years of age, smokers, and those with multiple risk factors (thromboembolic disorders, cerebrovascular or coronary artery disease, liver tumors, breast cancer, estrogen-dependent neoplasms, undiagnosed abnormal genital bleeding, and congenital hyperlipidemia) are excluded. OC use increases the risk of hypertension by 1-5%, depending on age, parity, and duration of use, but even this small risk is decreased when multiphasic OCs are prescribed. Deep venous thrombosis in the leg is 4 times more prevalent in OC users than nonusers and the risk of superficial thrombosis is doubled. Again, fewer thromboembolic complications occur when the estrogen dosage is low. The risk of myocardial infarction is not believed to increase with OC use as long as other risk factors--smoking, obesity, hypertension, age over 35 years, hypercholesterolemia--are not present. Studies involving the original high-dose OCs revealed a 3-fold increase in the risk of thrombotic stroke and a 2-fold increase in the risk of hemorrhagic stroke, but low-dose OCs appear to have no effect on the potential for stroke. The impact of OC use on breast cancer cannot yet be determined given the very long latency period of this cancer. In terms of benign breast disease, OC users have been shown to be at substantially reduced risk of lesions, fibroadenomas, and fibrocystic changes. OCs also protect women from endometrial and ovarian cancer, although the pill seems to accelerate the progression of cervical dysplasia. Other beneficial effects of OC use include reductions in the incidence of pelvic inflammatory disease, endometriosis, ectopic pregnancy, and ovarian cysts.
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PMID:Oral contraceptive pills. Part II: Potential complications and health benefits. 228 19

Drug companies have been at work throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s trying to reduce the steroid content of their oral contraceptives (OCs). Researchers have been successful in reducing steroid content while maintaining effectiveness, thereby making OCs safer. In the 1st half of the natural menstrual cycle, a woman secretes estrogen as the dominant steroid product. In the 2nd half, estrogen is the principal reproductive hormone. Estrogens inhibit ovulation, possibly by inhibiting implantation, altering ovum transplant, or in some way preventing corpus luteum function, which is necessary to maintain early pregnancies and the endometrium. There are still only 2 estrogens and 6 progestins on the market today. They are probably the most thoroughly studied chemical ever seen in the history of pharmacy or medicine. 1 of the estrogens, mestranol, is really a drug of the past. In the body, mestranol is converted to ethinyl estradiol, the other estrogen on the market. Consequently, there is no reason to use mestranol itself. Within the dose range of 50-100 mcg, there's little difference in contraceptive effect. Progestins are the other active ingredient in the combination OC. Their principal action is the thickening of the cervical mucus, which prevents sperm penetration. Also, with sufficient progesterone, ovulation is inhibited, but this happens in only 40% of those patients taking, for instance, the "mini-pill" (which consists of progesterone only). The progestins and the estrogens work in concert to make OCs a highly effective contraceptive method. Recent surveys conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and National Cancer Institute looked into the relative effectiveness of OCs. Nordette had a use effectiveness failure rate of 3.5; Ovral, 3.6. Loestrin 1/20 -- norethindrone acetate, 1 mg, and estinyl estradiol, 20 mcg -- shows a failure rate of 4.5. This indicates that the threshold for an effective dose of estinyl estradiol in OCs is 30 mcg. For 1 mini-pill, Ovrette, the failure rate is 9.5 -- much higher. Depo-Provera has a failure rate of 0.7. The primary complaint from women taking OCs is spotting and breakthrough bleeding during the cycle. 30-50% of women given OCs stop taking them within a year. OC side effects include nausea, fluid retention, breast tenderness, leukorrhea, hypomenorrhea, headaches, spotting around the face, hypertension, and visual changes. 1 of the risks of birth control pills may be cervical dysplasia -- changes in the cells of the cervix. The relative risk of cervical cancer with OCs after 5-9 years is approximately 1.8. Clinical cases of deep vein thrombosis number 1/1000 per year among nonusers of OCs. Among users, the rate is 3 times as high: 3/1000. The most serious potential adverse effect is myocardial infarction. Of the excess deaths attributed to OCs (23.3 total per 100,000 users), 22.7 are due to myocardial infarctions and hemorrhage. The discussion also briefly reviews other methods of contraception -- Depo-Provera, male contraceptives, implants, the diapragm, and IUDs.
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PMID:Prescription contraceptives: countering the risks. 405 Jun 70