ABSTRACT
Seventy-one women were treated with a daily dose of 0.25 mg of the progestogen ethynodiol diacetate. They were all tested with a three-hour oral glucose tolerance test before beginning the steroid and then again during the sixth month of use. Measurements were made of blood glucose and plasma insulin and growth hormone levels. There was a significant elevation of the blood glucose levels after steroid treatment as well as a deterioration in the tolerance curve in 12.9% of the women. The plasma insulin values were also elevated after drug treatment whereas the fasting ambulatory growth hormone levels did not significantly change. There was a significant association between the changes in glucose and insulin levels and the subject's age, control weight, or weight gain during treatment. The importance of considering the metabolic effects of the progestogen component of oral contraceptives is stressed.
