Antifertility drugs - Practice Questions & MCQ

Chemical substances used to check pregnancy in women are called anti-fertility drugs or birth control drugs or oral contraceptives. Oral contraceptives belong to the class of natural products known as steroids. It controls the female menstrual cycle and ovulation. A number of oral pills are available. A few popular out of these are combined pill, progestogen-only pill, post-coital pill, long-acting pill and male pill. These anti-fertility drugs contain chemicals related to female sex hormones, a mixture of synthetic estrogen and progesterone, which are more potent than the natural hormones. For example, a common brand name Enovid E contains Norethindrone and Mestranol.

Mifepristone is a synthetic steroid that blocks the effects of progesterone and is used as a "morning-after pill" in many countries. Ormeloxifene has also been developed and tested at the CDRI Lucknow as an effective anti-fertility drug to certain extent. All such drugs are expected to have side effects and hence should be used only under proper medical advice.