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."
So women who take the pills have a higher chance of living forever?
I just wish women would wake up and begin realizing that these "experts" don't care about women at all!
I would recommend that you seek out a good natural/homeopathic doctor to at least discuss the symptoms and problems you are attempting to address by taking the chemical abortifacient "pill," read info from the "other side" and then make your decision. You owe it to yourself. You can't buy everything the people say who are raking in the billions $$.
I was married to one!
And I don't get my period. I have no uterus.
And without estrgen, I suffer depression, low energy, hot flashes and joints ache. And that's just the obvious symptons.
I really do not want to debate this endlessly. There is vast amounts of evidence in support of estrogen as well as the naysayers. I know how I feel with and without it. I choose with it. It's a personal choice, and the only known negative effect for me personally and my situation is the risk of breast cancer which is why I get screening every six months.
MOST WOMEN ARE NEVER MADE AWARE OF THE RISKS - the docs are too interested in foisting their own moral views upon their patients: be a good girl and take your Pill.
Honestly, after each of our four children was born my wife got harassed at the hospital because she refuses birth control and lets them know that she would never even consider using it. Each of these "medical professionals" has exhibit zero respect for my wife's choice.
Perhaps they are getting paid off or perked up by the drug companies and HMO's who find that pills are much cheaper than childbirth and each new child's health expenses? (paying for a few more Pill-induced illnesses each year is pennies compared to payig for the expense of labor and delivery, and a new child's healthcare.
Feeding hormones to healthy body systems in an attempt to make them disfunctional is NOT heath care. That is exactly what the pill does to a healthy woman (menopausal women notwithstanding).
Agree totally.
In my case, estrogen makes me functional----with a quality of life I could not have otherwise. About two months ago I stopped taking estrogen because I don't have health insurance. After a few weeks, I was willing to give up eating in order to get my script refilled!!!
Like all medicines, there is abuse and there is good use. Each case is an individual one based on the health circumstances of the person. I just hope people can keep an open mind and realize that for some of us (and I have received numerous private messages from women who agree with me and have encouraged me), estrogen benefits far outweigh the risks. Generalizations are dangerous, in this issue, as with all others. And most importantly, estrogen has uses other than birth control, although that was it's first use. It is no longer it's only use. Anyway, thanks for your information---and I will keep on reading (almost said "abreast" :~) ) on new studies and research.
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Tuesday, 26 March, 2002, 11:50 GMT Pill 'could boost cervical cancer risk'  Scientists use smear tests to check for cervical cancer
Long-term use of the contraceptive pill could increase the risk of developing cervical cancer in women with a sexually transmitted infection, researchers suggest. Women who are positive for the STI human papillomavirus (HPV) could be at up to three times greater risk of developing cancer if they have used the Pill for five years or longer. A four-fold increased risk was found for HPV-positive women who had taken the Pill for more than 10 years. But there is no evidence that long-term Pill use increases the risk of cervical cancer in women who do not have HPV. The virus is the main cause of cervical cancer, which killed around 1,250 UK women in 2000. An international panel of experts has looked at Pill use and HPV infection rates. In a paper published by The Lancet, they conclude long-term use of the Pill could be a contributory risk factor to developing cervical cancer in women with HPV.
They said the researchers had not proved that the Pill causes cervical cancer. And they said regular cervical screening would pick up signs of the disease early. 'Step in the process' Data for almost 1,900 women from studies carried out carried out in Thailand, the Philippines, Morocco, Brazil, Peru, Paraguay, Columbia and Spain was examined by scientists from the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The risk of cervical cancer ranges from 1% in developed countries to 5% in developing countries. Silvia Franceschi who led the study: "We think that our results lend support to the existence of an association between oral contraceptives and HPV. "They could help women who have persistent HPV infection to balance the benefits (prevention of pregnancy and cancers of the ovary and uterus) and harms of long-term oral contraceptive use, and suggest that long-term users of oral contraceptives should be included in cervical screening programmes." In a separate study, the IARC also found high numbers of pregnancies increases the risk of cervical cancer amongst HPV-positive women. David Skegg from the University of Otago, New Zealand, writing in a commentary in the Lancet, added: "Any causal relation between long-term oral contraception and cervical cancer would be most important in the developing world, where cervical cancer is common and few women have access to high-quality cytological screening. "From a public-health viewpoint, a key question is the extent to which effects persist after women stop taking oral contraceptives. "For nearly two decades, concerns about oral contraceptives and neoplasia were focused mainly on breast cancer-with the eventual outcome being reassuring. Ironically the relation with cervical cancer may turn out to be more important." He backed World Health Organization commissioned work to evaluate all the relevant data. 'No proof' Commenting on the findings looking at use of the Pill, HPV and cervical cancer, a spokeswoman for the Family Planning Association said: "The overall likelihood of getting cervical cancer in the UK is low whether you use the Pill for a long time of not." Dr Anne Szarewski, clinical consultant for Cancer Research UK, told BBC News Online: "This is certainly a very interesting study, but they have not actually proved that the Pill causes cervical cancer. "They have just shown that if you are HPV positive and take the Pill, you are at greater risk." Dr Szarewski said the most important thing for women in the UK to remember was that cervical screening would pick up any problems. She added that women should not be deterred from taking the Pill: "You have to balance this possible risk from the Pill against many known benefits, such as protection against ovarian and endometrial cancer." Women can reduce their risk of contracting HPV and other STIs by also using barrier methods of contraception. |
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