The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. This story first appeared in Healthy You - November 2025, The Gazette’s quarterly health publication.

Hormonal birth control can both help and hinder chronic health conditions, depending on the specific method and the condition. Individuals with chronic conditions should consider how different birth ...

Cara Stanton didn’t get her period until she was 22. For years, doctors — including her pediatrician — recommended taking hormonal birth control to kickstart it. But Stanton was hesitant. “If ...

Certain types of birth control methods have been associated with reduced bone mineral density. The risk may be greater in people who start taking them during adolescence. Birth control medications ...

CHICAGO -- A world without "the pill" is unimaginable to many young women who now use it to treat acne, skip periods, improve mood and, of course, prevent pregnancy. They might be surprised to learn ...

Perhaps you’ve noticed something new at your local market. Opill, the first oral contraceptive approved by the FDA for over-the-counter use, began shipping to U.S. stores in March. It has no age ...

TiKTokers ― some of whom bill themselves as “holistic healers” ― have been arguing that hormonal birth control comes with too many risk to be safe to use. Illustration: Kelly Caminero/HuffPost; Photo: ...

According to posts on TikTok, hormonal birth control can cause a nearly unlimited list of ailments: Depression, irreversible infertility, acne, destruction of the gut biome, weight gain, balding, and ...