How the Pill Can Affect the Brain

Birth control pills are often seen as a wonder solution for contraception, and they can even help treat acne, severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS), excessive hair growth, and pain from endometriosis. While we are not here to recommend one birth control method over another, like almost any other medication, they do come with negative side effects which those who take them should know everything about. Since these pills affect the body's hormonal balance, they have specific impacts on the brain. 

 

Birth control pills contain a synthetic version of progesterone called "progestin" and a synthetic version of estrogen called "ethinylestradiol." These synthetic hormones affect different brain areas, primarily those responsible for regulating reproductive system functions.

However, the disruption in the reproductive process also leads to changes in signals received by the limbic system and mood, potentially causing depression and anxiety. These pills can even impact cognitive abilities, including memory and attention. If you know someone who is taking the pill or are taking them yourself, this may be very important information for you to have. 

 

Do All Contraceptive Methods Have the Same Impact on the Brain?

"Different types of birth control pills have various side effects on the brain — some can be more severe and unique than others," says Dr. Hilda Wong from California. Pills that contain both progestin and ethinylestradiol, for example, tend to cause more mood changes than pills that contain only progestin. It's also worth mentioning other contraceptive methods, such as intrauterine devices (IUDs), which have much less impact due to their location in the body. The IUD releases progestin directly into the uterus, instead of passing through the digestive system and bloodstream.

What Do the Studies Say?  

A review of brain imaging studies conducted in 2020 identified changes in areas responsible for cognitive processes in the brain, such as the amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and cingulate gyrus, due to the use of hormonal contraceptives. Additionally, a 2022 study compared the brain structure of 72 people and showed that hormonal contraceptives affect brain areas associated with emotional processing. Specifically, researchers found that participants taking birth control pills were more prone to anger, fear, and disgust than those who were not.

"While the study findings are fascinating, they do not show an absolute cause-and-effect relationship," says Dr. Michael Green, a specialist in treating menopausal women. After all, women taking birth control pills may be more involved in situations that increase experiences of such emotions. Older studies have shown a link between the use of birth control pills and the use of antidepressants and even suicide attempts. Although conducted on a small scale, these studies suggest that such contraceptives may negatively impact mood. Therefore, it is important to be aware of this, especially if you have pre-existing mental health issues.

What Should Be Considered Before Starting Birth Control Pills? 

When weighing the benefits of these pills against the risks they pose to women taking them, the main thing to consider is the reason why you want to start taking birth control pills. Is it for preventing pregnancies? Is it to help deal with premenstrual syndrome? Is it part of treatment for pain from endometriosis? Or perhaps a combination of these reasons? 

 

Dr. Wong says that the answer to this question will help you understand whether you should consider alternatives to birth control pills. For example, there are non-hormonal contraceptives, such as condoms. However, she advises thinking about whether you can stick to the chosen solution. For example, you need to take birth control pills at the same time every day—are you responsible enough to do this properly? There are also birth control shots that need to be taken every three months—can you maintain this?

Is there Anything to be done against the pill's effect on mood? 

If you or someone you know notice mood changes after starting birth control pills, talk to a doctor as soon as possible. It may also help to schedule an appointment with a mental health specialist. "It's important to inform your doctor about your condition and the neurological side effects you are experiencing, so they can determine whether the prescription you received is the best option for you," says Dr. Bassam Zaina from England. Depending on the severity of the symptoms, the doctor may suggest an alternative and provide advice on lifestyle changes that can help balance this effect. 

 

A Few Words in Conclusion 

Studies show that taking birth control pills does indeed affect the brain and may also affect mood. While it's important to be aware of these side effects, it does not mean that all contraceptive methods have the same effect or that they affect every woman in the same way. If you or someone you know feel more anger, anxiety, or depression and are taking birth control pills, it is recommended to consult with your doctor and explore other options with fewer such side effects, and monitor your condition to see if the problem was indeed related to the pills or not. If not, it is advisable to seek help from a mental health specialist.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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Can contraceptive pills cause PCOS?

Can contraceptive pills cause PCOS?

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), an endocrine disorder in females, is also a common cause of infertility and skin related problems in females. However, birth control pills that help to avert or contracept unwanted pregnancies are often related to PCOS. Let’s find out if contraceptive pills actually lead to PCOS.

​What’s the relation between them?

While the actual cause of PCOS remains unknown, it is believed that genetic and environmental factors may have a role to play in it. While the notion of contraceptive pills causing PCOS is absolutely a disgust since it is surprisingly responsible for controlling or curing severe side effects of PCOS such as:

1. Regulating the menstrual cycle.
2. Decreasing the risk of endometrial cancer or diseases.
3. Clearing the acne or skin problems.
4. Relieving the abdominal cramps during the periods.
5. It can significantly reduce the bleeding, averting the risk of anaemia in women.
6. Reducing the risk of cysts in the ovary.

What are the side effects of contraceptive pills?

Many studies prove that contraceptive pills have zero contribution in promoting PCOS but it isn’t necessarily important to carry zero side effects. Always be vigilant in choosing such pills, you should always opt for the one suggested by your physician, as it can lead to side effects like;

Bleeding spot

Nausea

Headache or body aches

Breast sores or enlargement

Weight fluctuations

Mood swings

Can we treat PCOS?

PCOS generally occurs due to an abnormal lifestyle practice that causes obesity or weight gain.

• However, if you simply include yoga and exercise in your routine, it can help you to keep up with your normal weight which will ultimately be responsible for lowering androgen, luteinizing hormone, and insulin levels that regulate the ovulation process.
• Consume a vitamin, protein and fibre rich diet to regulate your metabolism and other functions of the prime body organs.
• Certain diabetic drugs can also help in treating the PCOS symptom of insulin resistance and hence improving ovulation.
• Consult your physician and follow prescribed medicine to regulate PCOS simulated malfunctions.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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How everyday chemicals are destroying sperm counts in humans and animals

Within just a few generations, human sperm counts may decline to levels below those considered adequate for fertility. That is the alarming claim made in epidemiologist’s new book, which assembles a raft of evidence to show that the sperm count of Western men has plunged by over 50% in less than 40 years.

That means men reading this article will on average have half the sperm count of their grandfathers. And, if the data is extrapolated forwards to its logical conclusion, men could have little or no reproductive capacity from 2060 onwards.

These are shocking claims, but they are backed by a growing body of evidence that is finding reproductive abnormalities and declining fertility in humans and wildlife worldwide.

It is difficult to say whether these trends will continue – or whether, if they do, they could lead to our extinction. But it is clear that one of the main causes of these issues – the chemicals we are surrounded by in our everyday lives – requires better regulation in order to protect our reproductive capacities and those of the creatures with which we share our environment.

Declining sperm count

Studies revealing declining sperm counts in humans are not new. These issues first received global attention in the 1990s, though critics pointed to discrepancies in the way sperm counts were recorded to downplay the findings.

Then, in 2017, a more robust study that accounted for these discrepancies revealed that the sperm count of western men had declined by 50%-60% between 1973 and 2011, dropping on average 1%-2% per year. This is the “countdown” to which Shanna Swan refers.

The lower a man’s sperm count, the lower their chance of conceiving a child through sexual intercourse. The 2017 study warns that our grandchildren could possess sperm counts below the level considered suitable for successful conception – likely to force “most couples” to use assisted reproduction methods by 2045, according to Swan.

Equally alarming is an increase in the rate of miscarriages and developmental abnormalities in humans, such as small penis development, intersexuality (displaying both male and female characteristics) and non-descended testes – all found to be linked to declining sperm count.

What’s causing this

Many factors could explain these trends. After all, lifestyles have changed dramatically since 1973, including changes in diet, exercise, obesity levels and alcohol intake – all of which we know can contribute to low sperm counts.

But in recent years, researchers have pinpointed the foetal stage of human development, before any lifestyle factors come into play, as a decisive moment for men’s reproductive health.

During the “programming window” for foetal masculinisation – when the foetus develops male characteristics – disruptions in hormone signalling have been shown to have a lasting impact on male reproductive capabilities into adulthood. This was originally proven in animal studies, but there is now growing support from human studies.

This hormonal interference is caused by chemicals in our everyday products, which have the capacity to either act like our hormones or to prevent them from functioning properly at key stages in our development.

We call these “endocrine-disrupting chemicals”, and we are exposed to them through what we eat and drink, the air we breathe, and the products we put on our skin. They are sometimes called “everywhere chemicals”, because they’re very difficult to avoid in the modern world.

Exposure to chemicals

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals are passed to the foetus by the mother, whose exposure to the chemicals during her pregnancy will determine the degree to which the foetus experiences hormonal interference. That means that present-day sperm count data speaks not to the chemical environment today, but to the environment, as it was when those men were still in the womb. That environment is undoubtedly becoming more polluted.

It is not just one specific chemical causing the disruption. Different types of everyday chemical – found in everything from washing up liquids to pesticides, additives and plastics – can all disrupt the normal functioning of our hormones.

Some, like those in the contraceptive pill, or those used as growth promoters in animal farming, were specifically designed to affect hormones, but are now found throughout the environment.

Are animals suffering?

If chemicals are to blame for declining sperm counts in humans, you would expect the animals that share our chemical environments to be affected too. And so they are: a recent study found that pet dogs are suffering the same decline in sperm counts for the same reasons as we are.

Studies of farmed mink in Canada and Sweden, meanwhile, have also linked industrial and agricultural chemicals with the creatures’ lower sperm counts and abnormal testicular and penis development.

In the wider environment, the effect has been seen in alligators in Florida, in shrimp-like crustaceans in the United Kingdom, and in fish living downstream of wastewater treatment plants around the world.

Even species thought to roam far away from these sources of pollution are suffering from chemical contamination. A female killer whale that washed up on the shores of Scotland in 2017 was found to be one of the most contaminated biological specimens ever reported. Scientists say she never calved.

Regulating chemicals

In some instances, the abnormalities observed in wildlife are linked with very different chemical compounds to those observed in humans. But they all share a capacity to disrupt the normal functioning of the hormones that dictate reproductive health.

In the United Kingdom, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is currently building a chemicals strategy that could address these issues. The European Union, meanwhile, is changing chemical regulations to prevent banned substances from being replaced with other harmful ones.

Ultimately, public pressure could demand stronger regulatory interventions, but as chemicals are invisible – less tangible than plastic straws and smoking chimneys – this may prove difficult to achieve. Shanna Swan’s book, which presents the urgency of our reproductive situation, is certainly an important contribution to this end.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     

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