Venous and arterial thrombosis during oral contraceptive use in Libyan women

Birth control, known as contraception, can be defined as the use of medicines, devices, or surgery to prevent pregnancy. Hormonal contraceptive steroids are available mainly as oral preparations, although preparations for subcutaneous implantation and vaginal insertion have also been developed. There are two types of oral contraceptive pills: combined estrogen-progesterone and progesterone. The birth control pill is the most commonly prescribed form of contraception. Millions of women all over the world have used OCs for many years and Multiple prospective and case-control studies have shown that the currently available OCs are still associated with venous and arterial thrombosis, and that’s what prompted us to do this study. OCs are a risk factor for myocardial infarction especially when there are other cardiovascular risk factors, such as, hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, and obesity, and these risk factors increase with age. In addition, numerous alterations in blood proteins promote venous thrombosis, falling into one of three categories: increased procoagulants; decreased anticoagulants; and decreased fibrinolytics. A questionnaire was handed to patients (women aged 18 to 49) of gynecology clinics in the city of Misrata. The results showed that oral contraceptives are the most commonly used, and that contraceptives containing drospirenone plus ethenyl estradiol such as Yasmine are the most commonly used followed by levonorgestrel such as Microval. Most women used oral contraceptives under specialized medical supervision. However, many women who used oral contraceptives faced multiple side effects, most notably menstrual disorders. The results also showed that many women suffered from previous thrombo-vascular diseases, most notably CVDs and obstructive pulmonary diseases, which often appeared at an age of more than 30 years. Routine screening of all women for genetic risk factors before the prescription of an OC is not cost-effective. In addition, it would deprive a large number of women of the safest method of contraception.