[Unintended effects of oral contraceptives. II. Progesterone-caused effects, interactions with drugs]

A variety of desirable and undesirable side effects of oral contraceptives is attributed to the progestins. The favourable effects can be of considerable importance but are not suitable for therapeutic use. The occurrence of possibly severe adverse side effects, notoriously neglected for years, is increasingly recognized. Some of these potentially serious effects are dose dependent and seem to be structure related. Consequently particular attention is focussed upon newly developed compounds which seem to lack some of such disadvantages. Interactions between oral contraceptives and other drugs are reported; they appear to be of little clinical significance.