8mm
Posted on 08/17/2007 1:41:13 PM PDT by wagglebee
DUBLIN, August 17, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An Irish woman has died of a blood clot after taking the birth control pill for several years. Her family and an investigating doctor have publicly attributed her death to the use of the contraceptive.
On March 22 of last year, 31-year-old Julie Hennessy was found dead on the floor of her living room, Ireland Independent reports. Although she was a non-smoker of healthy weight, the woman had been taking the drug Mercilon for a number of years. This resulted in her developing deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a condition in which a blood clot forms in a deep vein-usually in one of the appendages. As in the case of Miss Hennessy, a DVT can break off and lodge in the lungs, causing death.
After her inquest on Tuesday, Julie's father Ray, speaking on behalf of his family-his wife Angela and their two daughters-drew special attention to the fact that the pill was the main factor in the death of his daughter.
"The Pill was the major cause of our daughter's death and we want to put it on record that other young women should be aware of these dangers," said Mr. Hennessy.
"Doctors are aware of the risks but I want to warn young women of the possible consequences of taking it. I wouldn't like this to happen to another family."
Speaking before the Dublin County Coroner's Court, pathologist Peter Szontagh-Kishazi emphasized that the contraceptive pill had caused Julie Hennessy's DVT.
"The only important factor was the oral contraceptive pill," he said.
"Clotting is a well-known risk of using the contraceptive pill. There is no other medication that has such a big risk as the oral contraceptive pill," said Dr Szontagh-Kishazi."
Some investigators attempted to blame the condition on the air travel that Julie went on for her work. Nevertheless, Szontagh-Kishazi said that although flying, especially economy class, has caused blood clots before, this was not the reason for her death because in such a case the clot would have happened in the plane. In this case, her condition was "a recent complication".
Blood clotting is only one of the many medical risks of taking the contraceptive pill. According to noted endocrinologist (hormone doctor) Dr. Maria Kraw, studies have shown that taking oral contraceptives increases a woman's risk of breast cancer by 24%. Hormonal contraceptives also make the body much more susceptible to the Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) known as the human pampilloma virus (HPV). Other STI's such as HPV, Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, Chancroid and Syphilis are also more common in people who take the pill. In addition, the pill has been known to cause osteoporosis and reduce milk production in lactating mothers (Read full report on talk by Dr. Maria Kraw: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/aug/07080903.html).
Studies have also shown that the pill likely causes a decreased sex-drive, and one particular report showed that the drug raises the risk of heart attack by 100% (Read http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jul/05071207.html).
In addition, the birth control pill has been proved to cause frequent medical abortions by making the wall of a woman's uterus hostile to a newly conceived person. The resulting condition in the womb can cause problems later on when the woman wants to conceive a child. In fact, women who take birth control have a 26% lower fertility rate (Read full report on talk by Dr. Maria Kraw: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/aug/07080303.html).
Referring to trial runs of the pill in Latin America, Kraw stated, "They started off using ten times the amount of estrogen - 'We're really going to shut down that brain' - Well, what happened? Women died in the first phase trial of these medications, but they were in Puerto Rico so, (the attitude was) 'well…. we didn't really have medical ethics, so we'll just keep going and trying.'"
These risks are present, however, even in the regular, low-dose contraceptive pill. As Kraw pointed out, "The problem is that this (death) is still occurring even as the dose of estrogen has lowered itself to only about 4 times with the low-dose pills."
Related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Birth Control Pill May Permanently Reduce Sex Drive Study Finds
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/may/05052603.html
Birth Control Pill May Cause Prostate Cancer and Bladder Disease in Mothers' Children
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/may/05050411.html
One factor not mentioned by the good dr is the possibility of Factor V Lieden. Factor V can create blood clots in Factor V positive individual. A blood test is required to determine if one is positive in one or both genes passed on via genetics.
I wouldn’t have know anything about F-V lieden had it not been discovered in my sis following a surgical procedure. We’re thinking a nephew who died from a clot may have been F-V positive but we’ve no way of knowing now. I was tested and came back positive in one gene. Factor V Lieden is more common in Scandinavian individuals.
The pill is touted as safe? By whom? You may not know this, being a guy, but when a woman goes in to get a prescription for oral contraceptives she is presented with a list of side effects and contraindications as long as your arm. The pill containers come with lots of small print detailing the horrible things that can happen and warning you not to take it if you have any of the listed contraindications. There is no way you could walk away with those pills and not realize there is risk involved.
My OB’s daughter (also a physician) died during childbirth too, from a massive stroke a few years ago. She was 28, in perfect health, uncomplicated pregnancy.
There’s a risk from Tylenol. One of our patients ended up with liver damage. There is a risk from *any* medicine, people!
My Mother was always bugging me about the risks of taking the pill back in the 70's. She worked in a hospital.
I understood the risks, but discounted them. Thankfully, she never had to tell me "I told you so".
The more I see medications advertised on TV and hear their potential side effects, the more thankful I am not to be on anything! Their disclaimers scare the liver out of me.
No medicine is ever touted at 100% safe, with no side effects. Even OTC has a label full of warnings. Every time I went in for a checkup to refill BCPs, I had to answer questions - have you had any leg pain? headaches? blurred vision? etc etc.
Blood clots can even form during surgeries. When I had a relatively simple GYN procedure last year, I was given a list that was also gone over in detail with my H and I, of things to look out for. Leg pain with warmth and knotting was one of the first, a warning sign of a blood clot.
If anyone is taking the pill and they begin developing migraines - that is a marker for this condition. After my younger daughter was born, I went on the pill and developed migraines within about a month of starting. When I called my doctor (to find out what I could take for the headaches) she told me to stop the pill immediately, and to never plan on going back on it again.
This danger is spelled out in the instruction packet given with each prescription. Anyone taking any medication needs to be fully informed of the risks and the warning signs.
Something being touted as safe does not preclude the actual existence of risks. The two are not mutually exclusive.
Factor V Lieden bump. My family has this. I have advised my daughter of the risk of death with taking the pill.
You are again mistaking one thing for another. Touting something as safe does not mean it is safe, not does it mean it is 100% safe. I never said the pill was safe. I never said it was 100% safe. I said it was TOUTED as safe. Perhaps you should use a dictionary and look up the meaning of the word. Here, let me do it for you since it apparently hasn’t occured to you yet.
Tout: “to praise or publicize loudly or extravagantly”
Take, for instance, what the FDA says:
“On the whole, the contraceptive choices that Americans have are very safe and effective,” says Dennis Barbour, former president of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, “but a method that is very good for one woman may be lousy for another.”
and
“Birth control pills are safe for most women—safer even than delivering a baby—but they carry some risks.”
“An international study published in the September 1996 journal Contraception concluded that women’s risk of breast cancer 10 years after going off birth control pills was no higher than that of women who had never used the pill.”
Notice, they are not denying there are risks. Either am I. They are, however, saying it is safe.
WebMD says:
“Birth control pills don’t increase the risk of death from any cause in women except those who smoke, according to a 35-year study.
“The research appears in the July 17 issue of The Lancet but quicklypoints out there is one exception to that rule —a woman taking birth control pills has a greater chance of getting cervical cancer.
“Benefits of Birth Control Pill Outweigh the Risks”
Get it now?
And to make sure you DO NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE YET AGAIN...
1) I never said the pill was safe.
2) I never said it was 100% safe.
3) The fact that they are touted as safe does not make them safe.
4) The fact that they are touted as safe does not mean that there are no risks.
There are risks with every medication known to man. Generally speaking, most people can take most medications without any problems but there are risks. Each individual has the freedom to choose whether the risks are ones they’re willing to take. We had patients who were on Celebrex and it gave them a wonderful quality of life. Some stopped taking it, some continued it.
Just having breasts puts women at risk for breast cancer. Not much we can do about that.
How dreadful for this to happen!! Prayers for comfort for those mourning her loss.
I was blessed that all I had for the problem was that. It could have been worse. His zeal for a good thing kept him from asking for my medical history properly. Had he checked my files, he would have known!
God created women's bodies so unique that to use the chemicals in any form for contraceptives throws the natural balance out of whack. If any of you get a chance to hear Vicki Thorn's presentations, it is awesome!! She has an abstinence program that gets through to teens and adults and makes sense. If any are interested, I think I have a link...Freepmail me for it, if you like.
Tighty, how'd your friend do? Full recovery?
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic Ping List:
Please ping me to all note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of interest.
This thread appears to have attracted some of the FRiberals. As a Catholic, I know that it is considered morally wrong to use birth control. I plan to use NFP when I get married.
My mom’s cousin used birth control in the 1980s. She had to go off of it because it was giving her high blood pressure. This medicine is designed to make a healthy, natural human body process malfunction. I can see why it would have risks. Some, such as the risks mentioned in the latter part of this article, are downplayed by pro-birth control organizations like PP.
What puzzles me is that women talk about birth control and abortion as making them “equal” to men. However, what appears to be happening is that women aren’t accepted for who they are, with their life giving ability considered a beautiful gift. Rather, they have to change themselves to fit into this male (to an extent), sexually dominated culture. Real feminists would celebrate women for who they are, life giving ability and all.
I still puzzle over how birth control can make a woman more like a man??? more equal??? perhaps it is just that is gives them a way of taking control of the reproduction issue when men won't take the responsibility?
NFP is awesome! I marvel at how God made our bodies to work so uniquely!!
| 2399 The regulation of births represents one of the aspects of responsible fatherhood and motherhood. Legitimate intentions on the part of the spouses do not justify recourse to morally unacceptable means (for example, direct sterilization or contraception). |
| 2370 Periodic continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self-observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with the objective criteria of morality. These methods respect the bodies of the spouses, encourage tenderness between them, and favor the education of an authentic freedom. In contrast, "every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible" is intrinsically evil:
|
Slaughtering thousands of innocent children on a daily basis will only make these women "equal" to other truly evil people.
If women want to feel "equal" in the field of genocide, they have succeeded. Margaret Sanger and Rachel Carson are responsible for more deaths in the last century than all of the wars and genocide in the history of the world COMBINED.
On a much different note, I've been on the pill since I was 19 - just before I got married and with the exception of going off of it to have my two girls - I used it continuously. In November, my husband switched jobs and I decided to stop it for a few months rather than paying $50 for the prescription. I had no idea how much the pill suppresses (if you know what I mean!). I always attributed it to work and kids and being tired but it was the pill.
I'm sure that's a little TMI but I was just so surprised. It should have been obvious now that I think about it (hello, hormones!!!) but I never thought I had a side effect. I don't think I'll ever go back on it again.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.