It is a little known fact that birth control medications rely heavily on the body's natural biochemistry. A large number of pharmaceutical birth control products work by affecting the chemical or hormonal balance of the body to prevent pregnancy. While most of these medications are designed to be able to work despite the multitude of variables that cannot be fully accounted for in the body, that doesn't mean that they work no matter what. In particular, the drug interaction between antibiotics and birth control pills has been noted to be rather antagonistic towards one another. A number of antibiotics have been noted to interfere with how some birth control methods work, though other types of contraceptive pills work just fine. It is currently believed that something about the way antibiotics and birth control medications work is making them incompatible with one another on a chemical level, though it is still unknown what.
It should be noted that only one antibiotic has been definitively proven to reduce the effective abilities of birth control medication. Though this declaration was made by the Mayo Clinic, one of the most respected health care institutions in the world, it should be noted that long-term studies have not been conducted into the interaction between antibiotics and birth control medications either. This implies that while only one antibiotic has been found to have an effect, it is possible that the others may have an effect and simply have not yet been explored fully by the medical community. This blank spot has been recognized and most doctors, while waiting for further studies to be concluded and the findings made public knowledge, are keen on advising couples to use backup methods, such as condoms, in conjunction with the pills.
Most doctors believe that certain medications can lower the effectiveness of birth control, though the list is mercifully short at the moment. Most medications found to have an effect are noted to cause minimal increases in risk, usually within a certain margin of error. However, some medications are believed to cause a more noticeable increase in risk, such as rifampin, amoxicillin, penicillin, tetracycline, and minocycline. Other medications that might have an effect, depending on the circumstances and some physiological variables in the body, are phenobarbitol, nitrofurantoin, sulfonamide, and cotrimoxazole. Griseofulvin is sometimes believed to have an effect, though the possibilitiy of such is not widely accepted by the medical community.
Doctors might advise their patients to lean towards caution when dealing with antibiotics and birth control medications. It is advisable to have a second birth control method on hand, such as a condom or diaphragm to minimize the risk of unwanted pregnancy. This is considered good advice whether or not the female is taking an antibiotic, since no single pharmaceutical or blocking birth control method is 100% effective. A pharmacist may also be consulted to have a better idea of how drugs interact, to provide a better idea of whether or not risks would be reduced by using more than one method of contraception.
The effectiveness of birth control is something that can be difficult to properly measure on many levels. Each form of birth control is only effective up to a certain percentage, with condoms being only effective 80% of the time and such. However, that is not taking into account various other factors that either the people making the chosen method of contraception or the people using it have direct control over. Regardless, the question regarding the effectiveness of birth control and which ones are known to be completely reliable will continue to be asked. That doesn't mean that there's ever going to be any concrete answers outside of the quasi-traditional ?abstinence? response, but that's never stopped people from asking before. Chances are, it never really will.
Abstinence, when it comes to discussions of the effectiveness of birth control, takes the prime spot. You simply cannot get pregnant in a practical manner (as practical as pregnancy can be, at least) if you're not having sex. There are ways around this thanks to medical science, but those require the tacit consent of at least the female half of the equation. However, this is strictly coming off from the ?raw material,? of sorts. Abstinence is guaranteed to prevent conception, but only if certain external factors do not come into play. The fact is, while conservative groups will proclaim that abstinence is the only real effective form of contraception, they are ignoring a number of critical points.
First and foremost, abstinence only works if you're actively practicing it. This should be plainly obvious, but the moment that a couple ceases to abstain is the moment pregnancy becomes a concrete possibility. It may seem like common sense that if you're committed to abstaining and you stop, you're risking pregnancy, but it apparently isn't. Couples who abstain then have sex without the intention of having children often forget about using birth control methods. Clearly, this puts them at risk of pregnancy, without even the partial protection that a condom or a birth control pill can afford them. This has often been attributed as a fault of abstinence-only education, though that is arguable.
It should be also noted that being effective is not the only factors that people keep in mind when selecting a form of contraception. Abstinence may be absolute in preventing both pregnancy and the transmission of a number of STDs, but if people don't have the discipline to stick to it, then it isn't worth a whole lot. This is particularly true for couples with raging hormones and not a whole lot of self-control, which some cynics point out is a lot more common than people would like to believe. Of course, some people have pointed out that abstinence-only education does not really factor in human behavior, and even when it does, the media is blamed for everything. While these are arguable points, the reality is that most abstinence-only educated couples take great risks whenever their discipline wavers.
A practical solution to the problem might involve discarding the notion of ?abstinence-only or birth control-only,? because neither option is completely effective. From a purely practical standpoint, abstinence is still the only completely effective birth control, but couples should be aware that of what they can use in place of it should they ever want to stop abstaining.
Harvey D. Ong has sinced written about articles on various topics from Gardening, Health and Birth Control. Harvey Ong is a part-time medical researcher and a former Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner.href="http://www.drugstoretm.com">DrugstoreTM.com is a reputable online drug store. From sexual health to a woman's health, sleeping aids to weight los. Harvey D. Ong's top article generates over 60500 views. to your Favourites.