澳州新藥 可讓女性1年只有3次"大姨媽"
A NEW contraceptive pill that lets women go four months without a period will go on sale this week.
一種可以讓女性四個月只來一次月經的新型避孕藥將於本週上市發售。Yaz Flex comes in packs of 120 pills and women who use it continuously will have three periods a year.
這種名爲Yaz Flex的藥品每盒有120片，長期服用的女性一年只會來三次月經。The pill comes with a palm-sized dispenser that records usage, notices when a tablet has been missed and provides an alert that alternative contraception must be used.
盛裝藥片的盒子僅有手掌大小，可以記錄使用量，如果有漏服則會馬上發出警報，通知使用者必須利用其它避孕方式。
The Clyk digital tablet dispenser can be programmed to sound a daily alarm to remind women to take the pill.
這種名爲Clyk的藥劑數字分發盒可以根據使用者的設置，每天自動報警提醒服藥。More than 80 per cent of women admit to forgetting to take their contraceptive pill at some stage and 31 per cent forget it once a month, according to a survey funded by Bayer, the drug company that makes Yaz.
根據生產這種新型避孕藥的拜爾藥物公司資助的調查，超過80%的女性承認曾經漏服避孕藥，31%的女性一個月就會漏服一次。Alex Trevor, who has used the new pill for a week, loves the new digital dispenser which "keeps me on track". "There have been times when I've forgotten to take the pill in the past," she said.
亞歷克斯-特雷弗已經服用這種新藥一週了，她很喜歡使用新型的數字藥劑分發盒，這種分發盒可以使她的服藥更有規律。她說：“我以前經常忘記服藥。”Yaz Flex is a new version of the existing monthly contraceptive pill Yaz and both contain a combination of hormones that over time help reduce acne. Australia is the launch market for the pill, which is made in Germany.
Yaz Flex的前身是每月服用的避孕藥Yaz，兩種藥物都含有一種複合激素，長期服用時可以幫助治療青春痘。Yaz Flex由德國製造，但在澳大利亞首先發售。Associate professor and gynaecologist Dr Rod Baber said many medical studies had found skipping periods was safe and it could be useful for women who have heavy periods, their periods are painful or they get migraine associated with menstruation.
副教授兼婦科學家羅德-巴伯爾說，諸多藥物研究發現，減少月經次數很安全，對月經量大的女性來說尤其有用，她們經常痛經，或者患上經期偏頭痛。Ms Trevor, whose mother Dr Christine Read works for Bayer, said she had skipped periods on her old pill but Yaz Flex with its digital dispenser made it easier to keep track of where she was in her cycle.
特雷弗說，她服用之前的避孕藥也可以減少月經次數，但Yaz Flex配有藥劑數字分發盒，這讓她能很清楚自己的週期。她的母親克里斯汀-裏德就在拜爾公司工作。Common side effects of Yaz Flex include nausea, depression, headache, breast pain and unscheduled bleeding.
Yaz Flex的常見副作用包括噁心、抑鬱、頭痛、胸痛、以及不定期出血。Women using it also face twice the risk of a blood clot as women using older versions of oral contraceptives, but Dr Baber said the risk was still low - 2.7 in 100,000 women. In pregnancy the risk of a blood clot is six in 100,000.
而且與其他服用舊式避孕藥的女性相比，服用Yaz Flex的女性患上血栓的風險是其兩倍。但巴伯爾博士說，這種風險（10萬分之2.7）仍然很低。孕婦患上血栓的風險是10萬分之六。
