Say goodbye to menstruation?

[Luceiia]

The Food and Drug Administration is expected to rule in the next few weeks on whether to allow a new pill to be put on the market that will reduce the number of menstrual cycles women experience. Instead of having their periods once a month, women who take Seasonale would have only four periods a year

http://www.msnbc.com/news/949294.asp?0cv=CB20

Sounds better than chocolate...


Luceiia

 

[Walter Wayne]

Will this end my mood swings?

Walt

 

[kedo1981]

It'll just make um last longer

 

[Sundog]

Of course, the bad side is that PMS will last a full month...

 

[Dr. Imago]

Hmmm... There's a lot of evidence out there that suggests that anovulatory cycles increase the risk for certain endometrial cancers. Currently, it is already possible for doctors to manipulate the regimen of women on the pill to induce amenorrheic cycles (the last 7 days of the pill pack are, after all, just placebo).

I'm a little leary about going against our biology and manipulating hormones only for convenience sake, especially when we don't necessarily know what the longterm consequences would be. Just look at the recent lessons we've learned with estrogen replacement at menopause. But, then again, I don't menstruate.

So, ladies, I can empathize (although I can't sympathize) with your plight. But, I'd be very careful about considering this option.

-TT

 

[Crossbow]

So, instead of 12 periods per year, there will be four periods per year, or a reduction of 67%.

Sounds good to me!

If this pill works as advertised, hopefully there will be at least a 67% reduction in the number of advertisements for female hygiene products.

 

[Skeptical Greg]

I thought maybe it was your birthday...

Never Mind..

 

[Eos of the Eons]

Um, there is the argument that women are now having more periods now than ever with the advent of the birth control pill. It used to be women spent more time pregnant than having periods.

So how many periods is 'normal'? As long as women don't smoke and eat right, then the pill shouldn't be too much trouble. I would love to only have 4 periods a year. Bleeding every month and having to deal with feminine hygeine products is icky

 

[Cristina]

I would be afraid to use it not only because of potential for increased risks of diseases but also because of the possibility that it might impact on subsequent fertility.

The data on the impact of birth control pills on fertility are mixed. I'm in my mid thirties and I'm on the pill in the interest of "saving" my eggs until I'm ready for children.

Will it work? Who knows.

 

[Eos of the Eons]

Your eggs deteriorate as you age no matter what. That's why it's hard for women to get pg later on, and why the incidence of down's syndrome increases. Older women don't run out of eggs, the eggs just get old too.

I would think that having the eggs mature every month would help the immature eggs get cycled up for their turn, and be in better shape than the egg that has been there waiting for 20 years right at the top of the line. That may be silly logic though, since eggs mature during the cycle, I don't think eggs mature until it's 'their turn' to go to the fallopian tubes.

Female Gamete Formation is Initiated in the Embryo

The potential germ cells develop early in fetal life, starting at about the 5th or 6th week

They start meiosis but are arrested at the first prophase
At birth there are about 2 million potential egg cells, primary oocytes, all arrested in prophase (many of them stay in this stage for 30 or more years)

By puberty there are only 400,000 left
About 400 of these will be released in the monthly reproductive cycle

Female Gametes Mature in the Ovary in a Monthly Menstrual Cycle

When the human female reaches maturity (puberty) a monthly cycle (about 28 days) begins during which 5-20 eggs mature and one is released into the Fallopian tube

At the same time the uterine lining develops to receive the egg if it is fertilized

The beginning of menstruation (menarche) is at about about 13 years of age (it depends upon body weight and has been getting earlier in the U.S.)

At menopause (about 50 years of age) cyclic release of egg cells stops

During the monthly cycle the selected oocyte finishes the first cell division of meiosis but arrests a second time at 2nd metaphase; meiosis is not finished unless fertilization occurs

Okay, 5-20 mature at a time..


http://members.aol.com/Bio50/LecNotes/lecnot45.html

 

[Andonyx]

My question is this:

Does this mean eggs will simply not be released during the "down time."

In other words, if a woman experiences menopause after she runs out of eggs, will this delay menopause?

I'm not sure I full understand this, or women's reproductive cycles for that matter.

 

[Aoidoi]

So, ladies, I can empathize (although I can't sympathize) with your plight.

Pssst... I think you mean you can sympathize but not empathize... (you can feel for, but not with, as it were)

I have no real idea on the merits/problems with the treatment, but if it makes women happier I'm all for it!

 

[Cristina]

Eos,
I appreciate the information.

There was a study done (I'll find the citation later but must run to a meeting in six minutes) comparing pregnancy rates in women in their thirties. 2 groups: one not on the pill and the other just coming off the pill (within several months at least) after at least 5 years use. The rate of pregnancy in the previous pill users was higher than in the nonpill users.

Of course, this could be due to many things and needs to be replicated, but for someone trying to decide right now, it seems the pill is the way to go.

But again, who knows?

 

[Eos of the Eons]

My question is this:

Does this mean eggs will simply not be released during the "down time."

In other words, if a woman experiences menopause after she runs out of eggs, will this delay menopause?

I'm not sure I full understand this, or women's reproductive cycles for that matter.

Okay, follow my link in my first post. It tells you all you could ever know. Women cannot ever run out of eggs.
I'll post this again too:

At birth there are about 2 million potential egg cells, primary oocytes, all arrested in prophase (many of them stay in this stage for 30 or more years)

By puberty there are only 400,000 left

About 400 of these will be released in the monthly reproductive cycle

We do go from 2 million to 400, 000, but that still too many to run out of if a woman only releases 400.

Gee, I don't know why women on the pill could have been more successful. Did they say anything about the women's lifestyles? If a woman is sexually active regularly then I could see how that would help. Maybe if a woman is not on the pill they are not as sexually active.
I heard that not having contact with a male can cause women to start early menopause. That's what happened to my mom. She hit menopause in her 30's.

 

[Andonyx]

Okay, follow my link in my first post. It tells you all you could ever know. Women cannot ever run out of eggs.
I'll post this again too:

Thanks, either missed that when I first posted, or we cross posted.

 

[Soapy Sam]

Originally posted by ThirdTwin
(the last 7 days of the pill pack are, after all, just placebo).


TT. I don't think I understand this. Would you please expand on it?

 

[athon]

Well maybe if Eve hadn't given Adam that damn apple...

Athon

 

[Eos of the Eons]

Originally posted by ThirdTwin
(the last 7 days of the pill pack are, after all, just placebo).


TT. I don't think I understand this. Would you please expand on it?

The 21 day packs don't include the sugar pills that the 28 day packs contain. You take the pill every day with the 28 day packs. The last seven contain no hormones and that allows you to menstruate. If you have the 21 day packs you just stop taking the pill for 7 days.

 

[RSLancastr]

Originally posted by ThirdTwin
(the last 7 days of the pill pack are, after all, just placebo).
TT. I don't think I understand this. Would you please expand on it?

First, IANAD.

As I understand it, the first three weeks of pills in a birth control pill pack are actual birth control pills. The fourth week of pills are placebos, which do nothing. I have heard it said that the only reason they are even in the pack is so the woman doesn't get out of the habit of taking the pills, and it helps keep track of the days until the real pills are needed again.

 

[Dr. Imago]

Pssst... I think you mean you can sympathize but not empathize... (you can feel for, but not with, as it were)

Oops... yeah, I got that backwards.

As was pointed out, you can't "save" your eggs until you're ready to get pregnant. Whomever is in their mid-thirties should get busy now. You are at increased risk already for having a Down's syndrome baby. The older you get, the more risky (not easier) pregancy becomes. The best age to have kids is mid-twenties. Unfortunately, in our current sociological climate, this is no longer practical for many women.

-TT

P.S. Start taking a folic acid supplements now too.