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Preventing pregnancy with a small dose of the hormone is one of the most important achievements of modern civilization. Hormonal contraception literally freed a woman from the pressure of an unforgiving physiology and gave her the opportunity to manage her life according to her own mind.
The very fact of the existence of hormones – chemical compounds produced by the body in one place and carried by the blood to another place to perform certain tasks – was discovered in the middle of the XNUMXth century. Experimentally, scientists have found out the purpose of different types of hormones, the sequence of processes in which they participate; and what consequences the excess and deficiency of each hormone has.
In 1919, the Austrian professor Haberlandt transplanted the ovaries of a pregnant rabbit to her sexually active companion and became convinced of their contraceptive effect. In the course of research, he found that during pregnancy, the hormone progesterone is released into the bloodstream, signaling pregnancy and preventing the release of eggs. Further research focused on the search for a chemical analogue of progesterone, because mining it from natural raw materials was difficult and unprofitable.
In 1951, the required substance was synthesized by a Mexican chemist student. And already in 1957, the world’s first oral contraceptive, Enovid, was released. It is noteworthy that initially “Enovid” was positioned as a remedy for menstrual problems, and temporary infertility appeared in the instructions as a side effect.
The triumph was crushing! But here side effects came to the fore. This is understandable: the amount of hormones contained in “Enovide” was hundreds of times higher than the dosage of modern drugs.
In the USSR, the first hormonal contraceptives were imported in the early 70s from Hungary; their poor quality and unpleasant side effects formed the stereotype of “dangerous hormones”, which is quite persistent to this day. Unfortunately, far fewer young ladies know about the consequences of abortion (incomparably more dangerous).
Progress cannot be stopped. In order to minimize interference with the woman’s body, new, more and more safe hormones are synthesized, new ways of introducing them into the body are being developed.
Modern developments include a hormonal ring, a patch, and an intrauterine system. Their important advantage is that hormones go directly into the bloodstream, bypassing the digestive tract, which means that the load on the liver is reduced and the contraceptive effect does not depend on such unpredictable moments as nausea and diarrhea.
Moreover, the intrauterine hormonal system (IHS), unlike other methods, does not affect the hormonal balance of the body: ovulation occurs monthly. A microscopic dose of the hormone is released into the uterine cavity and has a local contraceptive effect. At the same time, the contraceptive effect of the IHC is maximally high – 99,98%.
Surely the research will not stop there. But today, it seems that it is the IMS that is the most optimal, convenient and harmless method of contraception.