A Drug Review –Ortho Tricylen Lo

Contents
1. Introduction
2. Description of Ortho Tricylen Lo
3. Benefits of Ortho Tricylen Lo
4. Risks of taking Ortho Tricylen Lo
5. Recommendations increasing the effectiveness of Ortho Tricylen Lo
6. Conclusion
7. Bibliography

Abstract
Basically, the paper researches the effectiveness of Ortho Tricylen Lo. On analyzing the question whether its benefits outweigh the possible negative effects. Initially, the benefits of the medicine were analyzed. It was found that the rate of pregnancy among patients using Ortho Tricylen Lo varies from 0.68 to 1.47 per 100 women-years and at average it constitutes 1.21 per 10 women-years. In general the effectiveness is rather high, especially if one takes into account the fact that the pregnancies resulted from the wrong use of the medicine were included in the research. On the other hand, on analyzing drawbacks of the medicine, there were found certain negative side effects, such as headaches, high sensitivity to sunlight, more severe such as loss of coordination or vision. It was also found that the medicine can decrease the effectiveness of other medicine. Nonetheless, basically the oral contraceptive discussed is quite reliable and its popularity is justified since positive effects are more substantial than negative ones, which are quite rare and may be not directly provoked by the use of Ortho Tricylen Lo but rather by smoking, certain diseases, such as diabete mellitus, or simply by the wrong use of the medicine.

Introduction
Nowadays, the problem of contraception is extremely important and among the existing variety of contraceptives the correct choice of the most effective and appropriate one is particularly significant. Basically, contraceptives are quite widely spread, especially in the modern world when the problem of unprotected sex and undesirable pregnancy are growing to be quite important. In this respect, it should be said that, in addition to traditional contraceptives such as condoms, the modern pharmacology can offer more advanced oral contraceptives.
At the same time, it is necessary to point out that both kinds of contraceptives are quite different but in the question of the prevention of an undesirable pregnancy both may be quite effective. In this respect, it should be pointed out that Ortho Tricylen Lo is considered to be one of the most reliable and widely spread oral contraceptives that is recognized by many specialists.
Nonetheless, it is always important to remember that as any other medicine, Ortho Tricylen Lo has its own limitations and exposes women that use this drug to certain risks, which, on certain conditions, may potentially outweigh its benefits. Remarkably, oral contraceptives have been rejected by many women and specialists as quite dangerous or unpredictable since they influenced the hormones and, at the beginning of the production of oral contraceptives, such effects could be quite unpredictable.
Even though nowadays, the attitude to oral contraceptives is gradually changing, not in the last turn due to Ortho Tricylen Lo, some apprehensions and biases are still spread among clients. At the same time, the basic conditions that predetermine the popularity of an oral contraceptive are reliability, lack of a large number of negative side effects, low impact on the functioning of human organism. Basically, Orthy Tricylen Lo is considered to match these conditions, judging from the popularity of the medicine and its wide spread, but, nonetheless, there is still a room to open the debate concerning the question whether the popularity and wide use of Ortho Tricylen Lo really corresponds to its effectiveness or probably it is its leading position on the market of oral contraceptives that makes the medicine so popular. Anyway, it is really important to find out the extent to which Ortho Tricylen Lo may be effective and safe for health and what the possible risks of taking this drug are.
Description of Ortho Tricylen Lo
Speaking about Ortho Tricylen Lo, it is primarily necessary to point out that this is an oral contraceptive that basically targets at the prevention of pregnancy and is considered to be quite effective in this respect. As many other oral contraceptives this drug contains hormones which are actually used as basic constituent elements of the drug preventing pregnancy. It should be said that Ortho Tricylen Lo is based on the use of estrogens as hormones.
Specialists estimate that when this medicine is taken properly, this can prevent pregnancy in the overwhelming majority of cases. Similarly to other contraceptives, Ortho Tricylen Lo works by stopping a woman’s egg from fully developing each month. As a result, the egg can no longer accept sperm and, in such a way, fertilization and, thus, pregnancy are prevented. However, it should be said that, in general, oral contraceptives, other than Ortho Tricylen Lo, can have a different mechanism of the prevention of pregnancy from occurring.
However, it is worthy of mention that some specialists point out that sometimes “women’s egg can develop even though the medication is taken once each day” (Baerwald, 2004), as the creators of Ortho Tricylen Lo recommend, but, as a rule, this may occur when more than 24 hours pass between two doses. But even, regardless such an opportunity, it is estimated that almost in all cases “when the medicine was taken properly and an egg develops, fertilization can be stopped by oral contraceptives” (Baerwald, 2004), such as Ortho Tricylen Lo.
Basically, this may occur due to the fact that Ortho Tricylen Lo thickens cervical mucus at the opening of uterus. This makes it hard for the partner’s sperm to reach the egg that, naturally, prevents the pregnancy from occurring. Moreover, this oral contraceptive also changes the uterus lining just enough so that an egg will not stop in the uterus to develop. As a result, the combination of such effects, which have been just described above, make it really difficult to get pregnant while taking Ortho Tricylen Lo.
Naturally, the use of Ortho Tricylen Lo cannot give a one hundred percent guarantee of the prevention of pregnancy, especially compared to other more traditional and more effective methods of birth control, such as surgery, or the use of condoms. This is why the effectiveness of Ortho Tricylen Lo should be analyzed on the basis that it is an oral contraceptive that would be made a bit further. Nonetheless, it should be said again that Ortho Tricylen Lo is considered to be quite effective.
At the same time, it is worthy of mention that Ortho Tricylen Lo, which in actuality is the triphasic cycle product of norgestimate and ethinyl estradiol can be used for the treatment of moderate acne. Also, it should be said that specialists underline that Ortho Tricylen Lo can be not really effective within the first week of taking the drug. This is why, specialists recommend using other contraceptives to prevent pregnancy, though doctors, often prolong this period to one month (Sulak, 1990).
In such a way, Ortho Tricylen Lo is an oral contraceptive that nowadays is widely used and is considered to be quite effective.
Benefits of Ortho Tricylen Lo
Nonetheless, in order to clearly define the extent to which Ortho Tricylen Lo may be effective, it is necessary to carefully analyze its benefits on the basis of the existing researchers that will also help better understand whether its popularity may be explained by its real effectiveness or just a good market policy of its producers who have managed to gain a large share of the market of oral contraceptives. It is important to underline that the main principle of the functioning of Ortho Tricylen Lo is similar to other oral contraceptives. This is why it is hardly possible to expect some revolutionary effects of this drug that would make it totally different from the rest of oral contraceptives. Moreover, it is even possible to estimate that it is quite a typical oral contraceptive, though it is unquestionably quite progressive compared to oral contraceptives that used to be widely spread in the past.
In this respect, it should be said that one of the basic conditions of the general success of Ortho Tricylen Lo is predetermined by the use of hormones. In this respect, it is worthy of mention that the use of progestin-only oral contraceptives, or spermicides is not as effective as the use of oral contraceptives containing estrogens and progestin, such as Ortho Tricylen Lo. Practically, it indicates to the more progressive character of Ortho Tricylen Lo compared to other contraceptives that were popular in the past and which were based on the use of progestin only, instead of a more effective combination of progestin and estrogens.
Furthermore, in order to assess the effectiveness of Ortho Tricylen Lo, it is necessary to refer to some clinical researches that can help better understand what actual chances of preventing pregnancy from occurring are due to the use of this drug.
First of all, it should be said that in clinical trials with Ortho Tricylen Lo, 1,651 subjects completed 24,272 cycles and a total of 18 pregnancies were reported only (Hatcher, 1994). Basically, this is quite a good result since, traditionally, oral contraceptives are reported to fail to prevent pregnancy in about one case among 100 women that, though, is quite a normal result. As for the clinical trial mentioned above, it is necessary to add that the given statistical data represent an overall use efficacy, i.e. typical user efficacy, pregnancy rate of 0.96 per 100 women-years. It is important to note that this rate includes patients who did not take the drug correctly. This is why, judging from this clinical trial, it is possible to presuppose that, on the condition that the drug were used correctly, the rate would be even less that indicates to the quite high effectiveness of Ortho Tricylen Lo.
At the same time, it should be said that in other four clinical trials with Ortho Tricylen Lo, the use efficacy pregnancy rate ranged from 0.68 to 1.47 per 100 women-years. In total, 4,756 subjects completed 45,244 cycles and a total of 42 pregnancies were reported (Hatcher, 1994). This represents an overall use efficacy rate of 1.21 per 100 women-years. It is worthy of noting that one of these four studies was a randomized comparative clinical trial in which 4,633 subjects completed 22,312 cycles. Of the 2,312 patients on Ortho Tricylen Lo, 8 pregnancies were reported (Hatcher 1994). This represents an overall use efficacy pregnancy rate of 0.94 per 100 women-years.
In such a way, it is possible to estimate that, at average, the studies of Ortho Tricylen Lo reveal the fact that this drug is quite effective. At least, its effectiveness is not lower than the average effectiveness of other oral contraceptives and, in some cases, it turned to be even higher. This means that potentially Ortho Tricylen Lo may be considered as a really highly effective oral contraceptive that could be widely applied to prevent pregnancy from occurring.
Nonetheless, there remains the problem of the opposition of those who argue that the use of non-oral contraceptives can be also quite effective, or even more effective than the use of oral contraceptives such as Ortho Tricylen Lo. It should be pointed out that some non-oral contraceptives can potentially provoke some allergic reactions, such as spotting for instance, or, what is more, they can lead to the lesion that can lead to the following inflammation. In this respect, it is possible to estimate that Ortho Trcylen Lo is more effective than such non-oral contraceptives. It should be said that, according to the results of two double-blind, placebo controlled, six month, multi-center clinical trials, Ortho Tricylen showed a statistically significant decrease in inflammatory lesion count and total lesion count (Meade et al, 1980).
Furthermore, speaking about the effectiveness of Ortho Tricylen Lo and comparing it to other contraceptives, it is also important to remind about the possibility of the use of the drug in the treatment of moderate acne that is really a significant advantage of Ortho Tricylen Lo compared to other contraceptives that cannot be used in such a way. Moreover, it is even possible to speak about certain multi-functionality of the drug since it can be used not only directly as an oral contraceptive but also as a remedy contributing to the treatment of acne.
Risks of taking Ortho Tricylen Lo
Naturally, as any other pharmacological product, Ortho Tricylen Lo is characterized not only by its positive effects but can also produce some negative side effects and expose patients to certain risks that sometimes accompany the use of this drug. Nonetheless, it does not necessarily mean that these potential risks make the positive effects and general effectiveness of Ortho Tricylen Lo lower, but the question is whether these negative effects can outweigh its effectiveness.
To answer this question, it is necessary to analyze potential risks of using Ortho Tricylen Lo in the context of its effectiveness. After that it will be possible to develop certain recommendations as for the more effective and correct use of the drug and make a definite conclusion as for its effectiveness and risks.
First of all, it should be said that traditionally specialists indicate to the possibility of negative side effects of Ortho Tricylen Lo when they speak about risks that accompany the use of this drug. One of the possible risks is the possible increase of sensitivity to sun. In this respect, it should be said that some specialists (Meade, 1980) found out that some people who take Ortho Tricylen Lo become more sensitive to sunlight than they are normally. This higher sensitivity to sunlight may even lead to the development of brown, blotchy spots on exposed areas, which, as a rule, disappear gradually when the medicine is stopped.
At the same time, it is important to underline that the cases of side effects are quite rare when Ortho Tricylen Lo is used. Basically, negative side effects are often provoked by the combination of the use of the drug and smoking. It should be said that specialists (Meade, 1980) have revealed the fact that healthy women who do not smoke have almost no chance of having a severe side effect from taking Ortho Tricylen Lo. In stark contrast, smoking cigarettes during the use of the drug has been found to greatly increase the chances of serious side effects that can occur to women taking Ortho Tricylen Lo. For instance, it is estimated that cigarette smoking increases the risk of serious cardiovascular side effects (Meade, 1980). It is worthy of mention that the risk increases substantially with age and heavy smoking. To put it more precisely, heavy smoking implies that a person smokes 15 or more cigarettes per day. As for the age, it should be said that the risk increases as women grew older and women over 35 are more exposed to risks of negative side effects while using Ortho Tricylen Lo.
Speaking about the negative side effects that accompany the use of Ortho Tricylen Lo, it is necessary to point out that some of them may be caused not only by smoking but also by blood clots. Among these side effects, it is possible to mention abdominal or stomach pain which may be sudden, severe, or continuing. Also blood clots may lead to coughing up blood. Headache may be another side effect of the use of Tricylen Lo, though not the most dangerous one since the use of the drug may be accompanied by more severe side effects such as the loss of coordination, or vision, or some change in vision that can be sudden and unexpected. Obviously, this can be quite dangerous since such side effects cannot be forecasted beforehand by a patient without consultations with a doctor.
Sometimes, pains in the chest, groin, leg may appear. Also, there were cases when the use of Ortho Tricylen Lo led to short of breath, slurring of speech, weakness, numbness, or pain in arm or leg (Sanders, 2001). It is very important to underline that practically all of these side effects are sudden and patients cannot logically explain at once the cause of the pain or problems they have. Naturally, this is quite a disturbing fact since some of the sides effects mentioned above may be quite dangerous if occurred in certain life situations. For instance, the loss of coordination or vision may be extremely dangerous while driving a car, or crossing a road.
However, it is worthy of mention that the side effects mentioned above are quite rare and, as a rule, they do not occur. On the other hand, there are more widely spread side effects of the use of Ortho Tricylen Lo, among which may be named changes in the utering bleeding pattern at menses or between menses, such as decreased bleeding at menses, break through bleeding or spotting between periods, prolonged bleeding at menses, complete stopping of menstrual bleeding that occurs over several months in a row, or stopping of menstrual bleeding that occurs only sometimes. Laos, headaches and migraines may be observed among patients using Ortho Tricylen Lo, as well as increased blood pressure, vaginal infection with vaginal itching and irritation, or thick, white, or curd-like discharge.
Unlike the previously described side effects, these ones seem to be not so dangerous, or at least they are not so sudden. Nonetheless, the presence of such side effects still indicates to the fact that Ortho Tricylen Lo produces certain negative impact on the organism which functioning goes wrong that potentially may be quite dangerous since the drug is based on hormones and the changes on the level of hormones, if they occur, can lead to quite negative results in the long term run.
Furthermore, it is necessary to point out that the inclinations of women to certain disease or the experience of having these diseases in the past may also lead to certain side effects of Ortho Tricylen Lo use. For instance, women with diabete mellitus, may suffer from mild increase of blood sugar leading to faintness, nausea, pale skin, or sweating. At the same time, women smoking cigarettes are more exposed to such side effects as pains in stomach, side, or abdomen, their eyes and skin may grow yellow. Or else, women who suffered from some breast diseases may have lumps in breast. It is also worthy of noting that sometimes the use of Orhto Tricylen Lo may lead to a kind of psychological problems such as growing mental depression.
Naturally, it is also possible to speak about some allergic reactions on the use of the drug but they are quite rare. In fact, the side effects of Ortho Tricylen Lo, as a rule, are really quite rare that indicates to the fact that the drug is really reliable and, taking into account its high effectiveness, Ortho Tricylen Lo may be viewed as a more effective drug than its main competitors.
Recommendations increasing the effectiveness of Ortho Tricylen Lo
Obviously, the threat of certain risks that accompany the use of Ortho Tricylen Lo can dramatically affect its effectiveness and, thus, popularity among specialists and patients. Nonetheless, the side effects and negative consequences of taking the drug are not just rare but they also are often provoked not by the drug itself but rather by the wrong use of Ortho Tricylen Lo. Practically, this means that the general effectiveness of Ortho Tricylen Lo may be even higher since, if the drug is used correctly, the potential risks and side effects mentioned above can decrease substantially.
This is why it is possible to recommend use the drug correctly that implies not only the traditional necessity to check and discuss all negative effects with the doctor but also be very careful while taking the drug. For instance, when the dosing of Ortho Tricylen Lo is changed it can naturally lead to negative effects, or when the drug is used irregularly the effects will also be quite negative, or at least the risk of negative effects increases substantially. No wonder that it is recommended using Ortho Tricylen Lo regularly each 24 hours. At the same time, it is not recommended to use other drugs while taking Ortho Tricylen since the latter can decrease their effectiveness. Also it should be pointed out that the within first week of using drug its pregnancy preventing effect may be quite low and patients should be aware of this fact in order to avoid an undesirable pregnancy. By the way, in the studies concerning the effectiveness of the use of Ortho Tricylen Lo, such unexpected pregnancies were quite often caused by the lack of knowledge of patients observed about this fact.
Conclusion
Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is possible to conclude that, in general, the effectiveness of Ortho Tricylen Lo is quite high, especially compared to other oral contraceptives, as well as non-oral ones. At the same time, there are certain risks and possible negative side effects which naturally decrease the positive effect of the drug but it does not necessarily mean that such negative effects totally outweigh its positive ones. In fact, often negative side effects or undesirable pregnancy are caused by the wrong use of Ortho Tricylen Lo, or result from the individual state of a patient, who had some diseases which increase the risk of negative effects of using this drug. This is why it is possible to estimate that careful and correct use of Ortho Tricylen Lo can make this drug even more effective and justify its current popularity among specialists and patients.

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