Title: 
The Evolution of Birth Control: Options

Word Count:
569

Summary:
Evolution and competition are more than just forces in the natural world. They 	are very much part of the business world. Even something that seems as staple and unchanging as birth control pills can be altered by corporate or market necessity, which is why the pills are now more diverse and “customizable” than ever before.


Keywords:
birth control


Article Body:
Things, by virtue of the competitive environments they are thrust into, have little recourse but to adapt and evolve over 

time.This is true for everything from predatory animals to tobacco commercials, and everything else in between. At the same 

time,anything that is being marketed to the average consumer is likely to be competing with other products that are probably 

just as effective. The nature of the modern, global market is that a brand of clothing from Paris can be just as likely to 

draw in high-class customers as that radical designer in Kyoto's work. In essence, the consumer demand for more choices and 

options for customizing their purchases to their specifications has forced companies to adapt, making their products open to 

“acceptable alteration” more than ever before. Birth control methods, particularly for women, have also evolved along these 

lines.

Originally, birth control of the pharmaceutical sort was limited. You had options on what brand to pick, but most of them 

worked along similar lines anyway. They all worked by altering hormone levels, but had little room for things that women 

might have had to consider, such as their cycle. Dosage was also generally universal, though this was clearly something that 

needed to be fixed, since what is fine for one woman might be too strong a dose for another.

However, evolution is a powerful force, and it has managed to make even birth control adapt. Now, more than ever, women have 

options on what pill to take, how big a dose that pill actually is, and curtail and limit other effects on the female 

physiology that were ignored before. There are now pills that are designed to help fight the hormones that cause skin 

problems such as acne, while others reduce the problem of withdrawal bleeding. As such, to compete in the current business 

environment and grab a fair share of the market, pharmaceutical companies need to entice their female clients with more than 

just a partial guarantee that pregnancy is not going to be a problem. Like the clothing and accessories that the stereotype 

so often says women spend hours a day mixing and matching, “the pill” can now be suited for the individual woman.

There are, naturally, positive and negative effects to this sort of pharmaceutical phenomenon. The obvious positive is that 

women can now pick a pill that is better suited for their particular situation and physiology. This means that factors that 

cannot be accurately generalized, such as hormonal reactions, the ovulation cycle, and other physiological details can be 

taken into consideration when taking birth control. This means that they no longer have to adhere to the original 21/7 scheme 

that the older formulas followed, which is now being considered as an already outmoded attempt to echo the average natural 

ovulation cycle.

However, there are some negative factors that need to be considered. This opens up a slightly larger risk of incorrect birth 

control prescription. Since the pills can be chosen depending on a woman's hormone levels or certain things she wants 

eliminated, such as bleeding or hormone-related acne, there is a slight chance that the wrong pill might be given. There is 

also the present risk of a woman switching medications in the middle of a regimen. Such a move can be a major problem if 

things like what hormones the pills trigger and what effects they might have on physiology are not considered.


