LATEST ARTICLES
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) Oral contraception gives woman brain clot
MUMBAI: Most women pop it for birth control, some take it to beat acne. But the oral contraceptive (OC) pill that is generously doled out at women's centres and beauty clinics needs to be downed with a word of caution. The pill has been effectively used for family planning for over four decades and approved for acne treatment more recently (see box).
However, while an increasing number of Mumbai women are finding themselves saddled with the pill for the slightest rash of pimples, not enough information is given out about its caveats.
Vikhroli resident Tara Chandra might be a rare case, but her stint in the intensive care unit of Hinduja Hospital in Mahim, due to a brain clot explains why women need to be careful before popping the pill.
Chandra, 28, went to a dermatologist in King's Circle for control of acne last November. More>> - (
) Women Suffer Needlessly from Confusion about Hormones
These include acne, high blood pressure, excessive and coarse facial and body hair, deepening voice, polycystic ovary syndrome, weight gain, and unstable blood sugar levels.
Hormone drug products are usually chosen to be prescribed by traditional doctors. Since they get most of their product information from drug companies, they were sold on hormone drugs as the solution for their patients' complaining of symptoms that reflect declining hormone levels. Following the release of the Women's Health Initiative, many women refused to continue taking hormone drugs and completely discontinued all hormone therapy. As pharmaceutical companies began to feel the pinch, they made the shift away from producing hormone drugs toward production of bioidentical hormones, although many hormone drugs are still widely available and the first choice of many doctors who have yet to learn about bioidenticals. More>> - (
) Fda Deems Yaz Ads Misleading
A letter sent to Bayer in October states, "The TV Ads suggest that YAZ is approved for acne of all severities when this is not the case." The letter goes on to describe the commercial's audio claim that "it can also help keep your skin clear," which is paired with a woman with completely clear skin. According to the "indications and usage" section from the FDA-approved product labeling, "YAZ is indicated for the treatment of moderate acne vulgaris." "Young women in America need to know that they've got a bull's-eye on their back, painted there by Big Pharma," Schwitzer said. "We are feeding this 'pill for every ill' mentality." Leslie, a junior whose last name has been omitted in respect for privacy concerning her sexual health, said she has been on YAZ since she was in high school, and went on it largely to help her acne. More>> - (
) Saving face, trying not to look like a dog
The only experience I've had like this happened ages ago, when I was in sixth grade, trying to clear up a case of adolescent acne by using Cuticura ointment. Please tell me I'm not the only person in the world who remembers old-school Cuticura. I went online before I wrote this and am astounded that the product still exists, though I'm sure it's improved.It would have to be.
Back then, it was a round orange tin full of smelly, gooey, black-green gunk. Somebody told my mother it was good for pimples, but they must have been criminally insane. In retrospect, it was good for greasing axles. Yet I smeared it faithfully on my skin every night, reeking like a motor pool, and every morning my skin looked worse.
In any event, I digress. My fancy night cream is better than Cuticura, even though I get the occasional dog-hair sideburn. More>>