2 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
Purpose of this study: The purpose of this study is to learn more about how hormonal oral contraceptives affect brain processes and emotional wellbeing. Procedures: If participants agree to participate, the following will happen: 1. Eligibility visit (remote screening session) 2. If participants are eligible to participate in the study, they will be placed in one of two groups. If they are in the first group, they will be asked to take an oral contraception pill ("study drug") every day for 21 days. If they are in the second, they will take a placebo every day for 21 days. A placebo is a pill that looks like medicine but is not real and will have no medical effect on participants. Participants will not get to choose which group they are in, nor will they be told which group they are in. 3. During the three-week period in which participants will take either the study drug or placebo, they will be asked to complete daily check-in surveys on their computer or mobile device. 4. Participants will be asked to attend two additional visits over the course of about three weeks. At these visits, participants will be asked to undergo a urine drug screen, a blood draw, and a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). They will also be asked to complete behavioral questionnaires.
Approximately 15 million women of reproductive age women in the United States have overweight or obesity and use the combined estrogen and progestin oral contraceptive pill (COC). Although many women report weight gain as a side effect of COCs, a conclusive link between COC use and weight gain has not been established. This investigation will address a major gap in the literature by prospectively evaluating the influence of initiating a COC versus non-hormonal contraceptives (NHCs) on weight, body composition, eating behaviors, and appetite in pre-menopausal women with overweight or obesity. Aim 1 will assess the feasibility of recruiting and retaining a racially/ethnically diverse group of women with overweight and obesity while Aim 2 will explore changes in body weight, body composition, and cardiometabolic risks in these women; Aim 3 will explore changes in dietary and macronutrient energy intake, eating behaviors, and appetite in this subset of women. This research will help the investigators understand the extent to which COCs are associated with weight gain and help guide medical providers in counseling women with overweight and obesity on appropriate contraceptive methods.