SOME women are hesitant to use hormonal contraceptives because of the adverse side effects associated with large doses. But experts may be on the way to addressing this concern. 

New math research from the University of the Philippines – Diliman College of Science (UPD-CS) found that the amount of hormones in contraceptives can be reduced by as much as 92 percent without affecting their effectiveness. 

“Optimal control results show that a significant reduction in the dosage of exogenous estrogen and/or progesterone may induce anovulation,” the researchers said in their study, published last month in the journal PLoS Computational Biology,

Anovulation is a menstrual cycle without ovulation, or the release of an egg from an ovary.  

The UPD-CS experts said their findings could pave the way for further research on hormonal birth control and even a new treatment scheme minimizing the dose.

“Reducing the dosage of hormonal contraceptives has been a longstanding objective of safer contraception. Our modeling/computational study suggests an effective and cost-efficient hormonal contraceptive administration,” UPD-CS Institute of Mathematics Associate Professor Dr. Aurelio de los Reyes V said in a statement.  

Hormones use in contraceptives 

Generally, most contraceptives available today contain either or both estrogen and progesterone hormones to block ovulation. Estrogen is responsible for the sexual and reproductive development in women, whereas progesterone is the hormone that supports menstruation and helps maintain the early stages of pregnancy. 

Hormonal contraception has been effective, but it also has notable drawbacks, such as increased potential for blood clots, heart attacks, strokes, mood disorders, and other health risks.

In their study, the UPD-CS experts analyzed the hormone levels of 23 women aged 20 to 34 years old who have regular menstrual cycles. 

Their research revealed that estrogen-only contraceptives could work just as effectively even if hormone doses were reduced by as much as 92 percent. Meanwhile, hormone doses in progesterone-only contraceptives could be decreased by as much as 43 percent while still being effective. 

They also found that taking the contraceptives before the tenth day of the menstrual cycle is just as effective in preventing pregnancy as a daily dose.

To conduct the study, the researchers developed a modified menstrual cycle model to track natural hormone levels and the effect of hormones taken through contraceptives. They then applied mathematics to figure out the lowest amount of hormones needed to stop ovulation. 

De los Reyes made it clear that the researchers’ findings are not applicable for patient use yet, but these could pave the way for women to eventually have access to safe and cost-efficient contraception.

“We would like to caution that our model is not directly translatable to clinical setup (or actual patients) as of yet, but the principles and its proof of concept could be potentially implemented to achieve safe and cost-efficient contraception,” he said. 

The study also aims to find solutions to other reproductive health concerns. 

“We also hope to build on the current model to investigate reproductive health concerns in women like polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and ovarian cysts,” he said.