Hormonal contraceptives essential

Tone, Andrea, and Elizabeth Watkins, eds. Medicating Modem America Prescription Drugs in History. New York NYU Press, 2007. This history of medicine in America covers eight of the most influential and important drugs antibiotics, mood stabilizers, hormone replacement therapy, oral contraceptives, tranquilizers, stimulants, statins, and Viagra. Each chapter describes how the drugs become such an essential part of medical care and change the way Americans think about disease. 

The pill should be taken about the same time (to within 12 hours) every day to establish a routined The monthly bleeds that occur 1-2 days after the cessation of active hormone administration are hormone withdrawal bleeds not natural menstruation. They are not an essential feature of oral contraception, but women are accustomed to monthly bleeds and they provide monthly reassurance of the absence of pregnancy. 

Comprehension of the hormonal regulation of the normal menstrual cycle is essential to understanding contraception in women. The cycle of menstruation begins with menarche, usually around age 12, and continues to occur in nonpregnant women until menopause usually around age 50. The cycle includes the vaginal discharge of sloughed endometrium called menses or menstrual flow. Three phases comprise the menstrual cycle the follicular (or preovulatory), the ovulatory, and the luteal (or postovulatory). ... 

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