or example, the oral contraceptive is a combination of two very potent chemicals which arenot natural to the human body. The two chemicals have progesterone-like and estrogen-like actions. The estrogen-like chemical, in particular, shuts off the pituitary gland so that the normal stimulation of ovulation is dramatically interrupted. This is analogous to putting a clamp across an artery to a limb. The flow of hormones from the pituitary to the reproductive system is completely shut off. The use of these chemicals can result not only in the inhibition of ovulation, but also, in cases where ovulation is not inhibited, in the creation to a uterine environment in which a newly conceived embryo would abort. This is because now the endometrial lining is dramatically altered and has become very hostile to embryonic implantation. The latter effect of the oral contraceptive on the lining of the uterus (the endometrium) can be likened to the clearing of a forest in the Amazon Jungle. In the last case, the land is being sterilized; in the first, the womb is made barren.
Everywhere there is a subtle trend which has moved away from a definitive diagnosis and the ultimate treatment of the underlying problems.