London (AP): British researchers say that women using birth control pills could live longer than women who don't. The longitudinal study of 46,000 women since 1968 was published in British Medical Journal (BMJ) on Friday. The study suggests that the number of deaths was less among women who had taken the pill. The research shows the pill cut women's risk of dying from bowel cancer by 38 percent and from any other diseases by about 12 percent. Women in the study who took the pill typically did so for about four years. After age 30, they did see an increase in deaths among women who took the pill. Of course the medical community has warned for year that a major concern for women on the pill after 30 is smoking. Oral contraceptive packages clearly state that smoking cigarettes on the birth control pill increases a woman's chance of heart disease and stroke especially over age 35. Mortality rates in the study returned to normal after age 50. "There are some risks whilst you use it but you can minimise those risks by avoiding smoking, having your blood pressure checked, taking part in screening programs," says lead researcher in the study Philip Hannaford of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. "What we know now is once the pill is stopped those risks disappear and in the very long term there is no increased risk, in fact, if anything, a small benefit." [BBC]
Doctors say they aren't sure why the pill should lower death rates in women. The study only compared a sample of women who took the pill to a control group who did not and where therefore unable to label cause and effects. Obviously there are some benefits to suppressing ovulation, but it's only an assumption that this could play a role in preventing certain diseases. Perhaps women on the pill are somehow healthier than those who aren't. Previous studies have also shown that the pill does not raise risk of death. "In the longer term, the health benefits of the contraceptive pill outweigh any risks," said Richard Anderson, a gynecologist at the University of Edinburgh [AP].
Researchers say that this study can not tell us about women today taking modern birth control pills. Drugs today are not the equivalent to birth control contraceptives 30-40 years ago, called first generation birth control pills. "Many women, especially those who used the first generation of oral contraceptives many years ago, are likely to be reassured by our results," says Hannaford. "It would be wrong for me to say these results directly apply to today's pills, today's women, but from the few studies that have been done on the newer pills we are finding similar effects as the older pills. So one would suppose that the overall benefit from the newer pills is equally as good." [BBC]
The researchers emphasize that the pill's risks and benefits may vary worldwide, depending on how it is used and each patient's health risks.
Comments