Ethinylestradiol
estrogen medication used widely in birth control pills in combination with progestins
Ethinylestradiol (EE) is an estrogen medication which is used widely in birth control pills in combination with progestins. Ethinylestradiol is widely used for various indications such as the treatment of menopausal symptoms, gynecological disorders, and certain hormone-sensitive cancers. It is usually taken by mouth but is also used as a patch and vaginal ring.
The general side effects of ethinylestradiol include breast tenderness and enlargement, headache, fluid retention, and nausea among others. In males, ethinylestradiol can additionally cause breast development, feminization in general, hypogonadism, and sexual dysfunction. Rare but serious side effects include blood clots, liver damage, and cancer of the uterus.
Ethinylestradiol is an estrogen, or an agonist of the estrogen receptors, the biological target of estrogens like estradiol. It is a synthetic derivative of estradiol, a natural estrogen, and differs from it in various ways. Compared to estradiol, ethinylestradiol is more resistant to metabolism, has greatly improved bioavailability when taken by mouth, and shows relatively increased effects in certain parts of the body like the liver and uterus. These differences make ethinylestradiol more favorable for use in birth control pills than estradiol, though also result in an increased risk of blood clots and certain other rare adverse effects.
“Ethinylestradiol” enters the record as estrogen medication used widely in birth control pills in combination with progestins. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Ethinylestradiol, estrogen and medication can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ethinylestradiol” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.