Researchers at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK have found that the dosage of hormones in oral contraceptives can be significantly reduced to avoid many of the side effects experienced by women who use birth control pills. To work published PLOS in Computational Biology.
Based on data on estrogen and progesterone levels among 23 women with regular menstrual cycles, the scientists developed a mathematical model to calculate what changes might result in reducing the dosage of the hormone to prevent ovulation.
As it turns out, just a very small dose of estrogen and progesterone on the seventh day of a 28-day cycle is enough to stop ovulation. Thus, the required dose of estrogen can be reduced by more than 92% and the dose of progesterone by 43% compared to modern contraceptives.
It is important to understand that the results were obtained using the computer simulation method and not as a result of laboratory observations. Scientists reminded that most new birth control methods are tested first on animals and then on humans. The findings may reflect actual results, but researchers need to do more observations to understand whether precision low-dose hormonal contraceptives are really as effective as they appear on the chart.