Posted on 03/23/2002 4:46:11 PM PST by Notwithstanding
Saturday, 23 March, 2002, 08:40 GMT
Their risk rose by just over a quarter (26%), compared with women who had never used the Pill.
This is slightly higher than previous studies have estimated.
The latest research showed those who had taken the Pill over longer periods increased their risk of breast cancer by 58% compared with those who never used it.
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 It is clear that oral contraceptives increase a woman's risk of developing breast cancer
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Dr Merethe Kumle, study co-ordinator
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However, the highest increased risk (144%) was among women aged over 45 who were still using the Pill.
Dr Merethe Kumle, who carried out the research, said: "It is clear that oral contraceptives increase a woman's risk of developing breast cancer, particularly when they are used in the later period of reproductive life."
The study, presented at the third European Breast Cancer Conference in Barcelona, used data collected from 103,000 women aged between 30 and 49.
Dr Kumle from the Institute of Community Medicine in Tromso, Norway, collaborated with researchers in Sweden and France to assess data from the Women's Lifestyle and Health study carried out in Norway and Sweden.
The women were originally contacted in 1991/92 and followed through to December 1999.
During that time, 1,008 cases of breast cancer had been detected.
Most of the women who had taken the Pill had used the more modern brands that are currently prescribed by doctors.
Lower dose Pills
Dr Kumle stressed the Pill also has health benefits.
She said: "Oral contraceptives have a lot of advantages as well as disadvantages.
"The total number of deaths from any cause among women who use oral contraceptives is likely to be lower than women who have never used the Pill - just as with hormone replacement therapy."
She added: "The Pill has made it possible for women to decide when and how many children they will give birth to - something which has revolutionised women's lives and is an important issue in women's rights."
The absolute risk of a woman developing breast cancer under the age of 40 is very low, says Dr Kumle.
She also stressed that modern oral contraceptives have much lower hormone doses in them than the older ones, which caused an unacceptably high number of adverse effects.
Professor Valerie Beral, who is head of Cancer Research UK's Cancer Epidemiology Unit in Oxford, said this study was in line with previous research, although the figures differed.
She said: "We have done a study of 54,000 women with breast cancer and found there is a small increased risk of developing the disease from taking the Pill.
Breast cancer trends
"We found a 24% increase in risk while women were currently taking the Pill.
"However the risk fell away to the same as women who had never taken the Pill, within 10 years of them discontinuing its use."
The incidence of breast cancer has been rising in Western countries over the past 30 years.
The use of oral contraceptives is one reason, but girls starting their periods earlier, women having fewer and later births, later menopause and a tendency to being overweight are also influential.
Dr Kumle said: "We found a slightly increased risk of breast cancer among users of the Pill, but it is important to underline that young women using the Pill are not playing hazard with their health.
"As contraception, the Pill should still be the drug of choice for young women."
I just remembered a recent study that said the Pill had a protective effect on the ovaries and this was a plus for women with a family history of ovarian cancer.
The benefits of estrogen may be more than the menopausal symptom amelioration, including protection against osteoporosis, which actually contributes to many deaths since the mortality rate is high in the elderly who suffer hip fractures.
Additional benefits may include improvment of mood including for some women mood disorders that interfere with normal life functioning, protection against cardiovascular disease,and protection against dementias.. The final answers are not in yet.
Having said this, I agree that most of the time estrogen replacement is not a good idea and, were I a woman, would decline.
BTW, Clearly you ain't the typical user.
If you ain't a whore then I was not talking about you.
I completely agree.
"Disadvantages" of the Pill: "Raised risk of heart attack and stroke."
If it is true so be it. I just want to see the source for your claims.
That's because their "target" is not women interested in the health benefits. The health benefits are for those women who can no longer produce estrogen naturally. And those women also cannot conceive children. So Planned Parenthood has no interest in these women!
SAN ANTONIO, Feb. 7 – The first major study of ischemic stroke in women taking the latest form of low-estrogen birth control pills finds that they still have about double the stroke risk of women not taking the pill. These findings were reported today at the American Stroke Association’s 27th International Stroke Conference. The American Stroke Association is a division of the American Heart Association.
I believe there is some suggestion in the data that, though estrogen users, more the women who use estrogen replacement therapy rather than contraceptives have an increased risk of breast cancer, they may actually have a lesser mortality because they are more likely to be monitored with regular mammograms and have an earlier diagnosis. Again, the final answer awaits.
The route of delivery of estrogen may be important. The transdermal patches which deliver estrogen through the skin into the bloodstream, rather than the oral form which is absorbed in the intestine and passes first through the liver, may have less effect on strokes. The liver is the site of production of some clotting factors and it is speculated that is the reason.
This applies to hormone replacement therapy, not oral birth control pills.
American Family Physician---aafp.org
Doctors Guide to the Internet---pslgroup.com
I think this is what informed choice is really all about. I do believe the drug companies and Planned Parenthood make an enormous profit off the bodies of women and have plenty of reason to want to block this kind of information. They stand to lose millions. But after getting all the facts, if a woman still wants to take these drugs then it is her choice. But I think we all deserve to be fully informed regardless.
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