Inhibition of Ovulation in the Human 



239 



Although not as many treated ovaries as we could wish have been 

 studied so far, the indication is that undeveloped ova are not damaged by 

 Enovid. 



C. Effect of Enovid on Future Reproductive Potential 



The innocuousness of Enovid to the ovaries is also evidenced by the 

 fertility of patients following cessation of medication. That Enovid does no 

 harm to the reproductive potential is shown by a follow-up study of women 

 in San Juan who, after treatment for even as long as 34 cycles, manifested, 



Table 14. Fertility Control with Enovid: Pregnancy Rates of 84 Women Using No 



Contraceptives Following Withdrawal from San Juan Project 



(Medication for 1-34 Cycles) 



after cessation of therapy, a fertility rate that differed only slightly from their 

 premedication performance (Table 14). Moreover, even among those using 

 contraceptives of some other sort after discontinuance of Enovid, we find that 

 many pregnancies occurred. 



Hence we believe that ovulation potential is not diminished by long use of 

 these steroids that prevent its expression. 



D. Other Effects of Enovid 



Appropriate studies revealed no evidence of liver damage in patients 

 participating in the field projects who had used the material cyclically without 

 interruption for as long as 2| years (30-32). In our own local cases, 10 indi- 

 viduals, who had been on Enovid therapy for more than a year, also failed to 

 show any sign of liver dysfunction. Furthermore, no deleterious effects on 

 the blood (26) or on general health and well-being (31, 32) could be detected. 



COMMENT 



I have reported that 10 mg a day was selected as the standard dosage of 

 Enovid. The material is expensive; the present retail price in this country 

 is about 55 cents per 10-mg tablet; and so we have tried 5 mg and even as 

 little as 2.5 mg per day. While, with lower dosage, there is a slightly higher 



