Main description:

In this definitive new text, the major medicines, devices and vaccines used by women worldwide are brought together for the first time in a single volume. Written and edited by international experts with an evidence-based approach, the book offers a comprehensive summary of all the key areas of women's medicines. In the first part, issues relating to female drug exposure and considerations for prescribing for subgroups of women - for example during pregnancy and lactation - are presented in the context of contemporary clinical practice. In the second part, specific groups of pharmaceutical products are reviewed, including oral contraceptives, emergency contraception, treatment of chronic pelvic pain, hormone replacement therapy, bisphosphonates, herbal medicines for women, contraceptive devices and human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccines. Every chapter reviews and summarises the efficacy and safety of each group of products and concludes with a useful set of clinical take home messages. In the third part, broader perspectives are presented - from a primary care overview of prescribing for women, through to regulatory, political and religious aspects, including issues with women's medicines in developing countries. The final two chapters focus on risk communication and conclude that women themselves should be placed at the centre of all discussions about their medicines.

The book is aimed at prescribers, other healthcare professionals and students in the field of women's health throughout the world. It is an extremely valuable resource for all in clinical practice, for students of medicine, nursing, pharmacy and related sciences, and also for those in medicines regulation, pharmacovigilance and the pharmaceutical industry.

Contents:

Part 1 Prescribing medicines for women: general principles and consideration of special sub-populations. - 1 Medicines for women: medicines for half the world. - 2 Effects of sex differences in the pharmacokinetics of drugs and their impact on the safety of medicines in women. - 3 Prescribing Medicines to Adolescent Women. - 4 Medication Use in Pregnancy; Treating the Mother - Protecting the Unborn. - Part 2 Specific medicinal products for women: benefits and risks. - 5 Oral Contraceptives: Benefits and risks. - 6 Oral Contraceptives and the Risk of Venous Thromboembolism. - 7 Emergency Contraception. - 8 Contraceptive devices for women: implants, intrauterine devices and other products. - 9 HPV vaccines. - 10 Medical treatment of chronic pelvic pain. - 11 Menopausal hormone therapy: a safety perspective. - 12 Bisphosphonates for Osteoporosis. - 13 Herbal and Complementary Medicines used for Women's Health. - Part 3 International perspectives on medicines for women and risk communication. - 14 A Primary Care Perspective on Prescribing for Women. - 15 A Medicines Regulatory Perspective on Women's Medicines. - 16 Political and religious perspectives on managing the risks and benefits of women's medicines. - 17 Perspectives on women's health and medicines in developing countries. - 18 Perspectives on risk communication and gender issues. - 19 Risk communication and specific medicines for women.