Current Women's Health Reviews - Volume 10, Issue 2, 2014

Abortion is one of the most common procedures in the US, with over 1.06 million performed, in 2011. The number of abortion providers has decreased by 40% since 1981, resulting in 89% of counties without a provider. Efforts to counteract this decline include legislation to expand the types of abortion providers and training programs to support residents in a dedicated family planning rotation. However, states are incr Read More

Abortion has been legal since the 1973 United States Supreme Court decision in Roe versus Wade. Since 1973, there have been nearly 53 million abortions performed, with 1.06 million abortions in 2011 [1]. In 2011, the abortion rate was the lowest since 1973, with 16.9 abortions per 1000 women age 15- 44 years [2]. Although the abortion rate had declined, the unintended pregnancy rate remained constant at 50% and al Read More

Use of any form of contraception results in cost-savings compared to non-use of contraception, regardless of payer type. Long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) methods are significantly more cost-effective than short-term hormonal and barrier methods, even when LARC methods are not used for their full duration of efficacy. Despite increased contraceptive coverage and reduced patient cost-sharing under the Afforda Read More

Since the introduction of hormonal contraception in the 1960s, their popularity has grown exponentially and benefits a large population of reproductive aged women. Currently available options are lacking for women with comorbidities such as hypertension, migraines, lupus, liver pathology, thrombophilias, obesity, etc. Recent studies reveal promising evidence of several non-hormonal contraceptive methods that Read More

Addressing contraception and prevention of sexually transmitted infections world-wide, including HIV-1, is imperative. The HIV/AIDS pandemic, and its impact on women, has prompted the investigation of multipurpose technologies, specifically, prevention strategies to protect against unwanted pregnancy and prevent the sexual transmission of HIV. Current research in multipurpose technologies is targeted to develop a discrete a Read More

The majority of safety profile data on current contraceptive options were studied on young, healthy women without significant medical co-morbidities. However many women of reproductive age have important medical conditions, in which certain contraceptive options may have increased risk and side effects. Therefore extrapolating the risk profile of contraceptive options from healthy women to women with coe Read More

For a number of years the only options for male contraception were condoms or vasectomy. In the past two decades a number of hormonal and non-hormonal options have been evaluated in basic science, animal and clinical studies. This section will review the mechanism of action, limitations, and efficacy of male contraceptives that are in current clinical use as well as products that are in development.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a multifactorial disorder that becomes apparent during adolescence with a variety of hormonal and metabolic symptoms. Patients with PCOS can present with ovulatory dysfunction, polycystic ovaries, androgen excess, metabolic abnormalities or a combination of some or all of these problems. The cause of PCOS is unknown but studies suggest a strong genetic component that is aff Read More

The purpose of a cervical screening program is to reduce morbidity and mortality from invasive cervical cancer. High-risk HPV DNA testing is more sensitive but less specific than conventional cytology. The increase in sensitivity results in doubling of positive subjects compared with Pap smear. However, lowgrade epithelial anomalies are over-represented when using HPV testing. Investigation and eventual treatment of many sel Read More