Contraceptives

We cannot ignore the real side effects that some women experience when taking oral contraceptives and if this is your preferred method of birth control, it may take a few ‘trials’ to find the right one to suit you. However, most women who take ‘the pill’ would argue that reliability and convenience far outweigh the possible risks. One third of women also take the contraceptive pill for non contraceptive reasons.

Dr. Judith Reichman, the TODAY show’s medical contributor on women’s health, has practiced obstetrics and gynecology for more than 20 years and has recently written an article to balance out the negative with a positive, factual report on findings from the latest studies on oral contraceptives.

The full article can be READ HERE but below are the main points to bring you quickly up to date.

6 benefits of using oral contraceptives:

1. protects against pregnancy - when used perfectly, failure rate only 3%
2. relieves PMS - decreases cramps by as much as 50%
3. regulates periods and decreases blood loss by 45% = lighter periods
4. use of the pill for more than 2 yrs. can DECREASE the risk of ovarian cancer by as much as 70% - combined oral contraceptives , containing estrogen and progestin, are the ONLY current method of preventing ovarian cancer. Studies have also shown that women whose mothers had breast cancer are not a higher risk of getting this disease if they continue to take the pill
5. decreases acne by 50%
6. higher dose pills have been shown to decrease the development of cysts in the ovaries and also fibroids in the uterus (though low dose pills may not be as effective)

A quote from DR. Reichman’s article.

“The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has stated that the current or past use of birth control among 35- to 64-year-old women didn’t increase their risk of breast cancer. They even checked women who are known to have a mutation in the genes related to breast and ovarian cancer (called the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes) and found that a low-dose pill still didn’t increase their breast cancer risk. They have found, though, that COC use will decrease the risk of ovarian cancer in these women.”

I shall be presenting further articles on the topic of hormonal contraceptives and cancer so that you can read other views and statistics and make up your own mind as to whether you wish to use ‘the pill’.

Remember, doctors are busy people- it is a daunting task to keep up with the latest medical studies on EVERY disease and the results of EVERY drug study so if the information in the Dr. Reichman’s article triggers a concern about the oral contraceptive you are using, you know what to do- discuss it with your doctor.

Pills do not protect against STDs so if you want a reliable on line supplier of condoms and other goodies go here.