5 Myths about Contraceptive Pill Discovered!

When I mentioned October is a month of celebration I mean it!!!! From my big day, to Oktoberfest to Pink October and now World Contraption Day falls on 2nd October and I was invited to get to know more about modern contraceptive pill!

Dr KK Iswaran giving presentation on Contraceptive Pill.

I know, some of you errrrr I don’t use Contraceptive Pill or I don’t need one! I’m not married yet!!! But trust me it’s really essential for all ladies to learn about contraceptive pills and armed yourself with useful information that you may need in few years time for young teenage girls and for those in a relationship or those married perhaps the info is useful to you even NOW!!!!!!!

Okay if you have no idea what is Contraception or Birth Control yet, it is a form of medication or method use to prevent pregnancy. There is many types of contraception including Oral Contraceptive (OC) that is widely used by woman globally.

A survey revealed that Combined Oral Contraceptive (COC) pills are the most preferred choice. COC pills contain a synthetic version of two female hormones known as progesterone and oestrogen which is primarily used to prevent pregnancies.

In Malaysia, 55% of married women aged between 15 & 49 years used any form of contraception. Shockingly, there is 38 out of every 1000 women aged between 15 and 49 years go for an abortion!!!!!!!!!!! OMG this is bad and at this point I think Contraception is very important in family planning.

I am sure you don’t wanna end up like this!!!!!!

I bet most woman reject the usage of COC mostly due to the following reasons.

The above reason may not be correct! Here are some of the myth discovered and proven wrong!!!!

Myth #1 – Weight gain are caused by older generation COC. modern COV have shown to reduce or maintain body weight because of it’s unique formula that prevents water retention.

Myth #2 – Modern COC help improve skin conditions making it clearer and less greasy. Thus results in reduction in breakout.

Myth #3 – COC will not cause infertility. In fact, it help preserve fertility by offering protection against pelvic inflammatory disease, endometriosis & ectopic pregnancy. Woman who stop taking COC pill can become pregnant as quickly as woman who stop using non-hormonal methods!

Myth #4 – Woman at any productive age (15-49years old) can consider taking COC pills. You can start at any age and continue until menopause or stop when you want to have child!

Myth #5 – Some woman may experience short term such as nausea & headache during first few days of COC pills intake. In fact, COC pills are used to treat PMS symptoms.

The one thing you MUST KNOW is OC is primarily used to prevent pregnancy at the same time it also provides lots of benefits to woman especially on menstrual-related disorder and acne!!!!

BENEFIT #1 – OC pills contain oestrogen & progestin which helps lowers the amount of androgens (a group of hormones including testosterone) which stimulate production of oil by glands in the skin, body. This will then results in less oily skin and less severe acne.

BENEFIT #2 – Recent Studies shown that OC pills intake for a year helps protect against uterine cancer. Long term OC pills intake protect woman from ovarian cancer. A meta-analysis also show an 18% reduction in colorectal cancer reduction among woman who used OC pills. Intake of OC pill in long term also contribute to 50% reduction of endometrial cancer risk.

BENEFIT #3 – I really hate PMS, especially on the first day. The cramp is really bad and I need to be on bed for at least the first 8 hours of my menses. Some might have acne, swollen breast, mood swing and many more before menstruating. Good thing is OC pills help control menstrual related disorders by stopping ovulation or stabilising hormone levels. The pill also regulates menstrual cycles by balancing the hormonal levels in the body.

Mr Andy Siow, managing Director of Malaysia & Singapore Exeltis Pharma was invited to discuss on some of studies and survey done on contraceptive related info.

According to Mr Andy, there is increase of 12% in the proportion of females requiring hormonal treatment in Malaysia compared to previous years. Of this increase, one in three females were prescribed with female hormones therapy for pregnancy preventions, menstrual side effect , acne, endometriosis and etc.

Generic drug has gain popularity due to cost saving involved. Generic drug are similar to the original drug and has gone through the biological test to ensure the end product is similar. In one survey, when asked about satisfaction level on generic female hormones, they said it is very favourable seeing it as cost effective alternative which provide similar efficacy to the original brand.

“Through the findings of the market survey and the new patient education leaflet, we hope to empower women by giving them an opportunity to take control of and improve their quality of life. In Malaysia, Exeltis Pharma offers three drospirenone-containing COC pills to suit woman of different needs and at the same time offer the same benefits of drospirenone at a more affordable price. These pills are manufactured in Spain and are marketed in various countries including United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Italy, France, Thailand and Philippines since 2009.

At Exeltis, we believe in innovation and sustainable development. our commitment is to improve people’s health and quality of life, providing access to quality medicines at affordable prices, and to continuously expand our efforts and R&D investment to develop new and better therapies.” Concluded by Mr Andy Siow.

The event end with a Q&A session as well as a quiz!

me & Charmaine both won a 20,000 mAh power bank!!!!!

Hope you learn something new after reading my post, Wish all ladies enjoy a life that are specifically tailored to their preference!!!!!!! No more unplanned pregnancies!!!!!!

For more info on this contraceptive pill by Chemo Group please checkout their official website.

Exeltis Pharma: http://exeltis.com.my/home.html

Chemo Group: http://www.chemogroup.com/