Contraceptive pill may protect against heart disease
Women who use the oral contraceptive pill are likely to be reassured by new research presented at a recent meeting of the American
Society for Reproductive Medicine.
Analysis of data from the Women’s Health Initiative study, known
for findings on the harmful effects of hormone replacement therapy, has
revealed that use of the oral contraceptive pill is associated with a
lower risk of both cardiovascular disease and certain cancers.
Researchers from Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, examined
the WHI database to investigate the relationship between oral contraceptive
use, cardiovascular health and gynaecological cancers. The database includes
records of some 160,000 women, of whom approximately 67,000 had a history
of oral contraceptive use.
In terms of cardiovascular health, the researchers observed a strong
relationship between oral contraceptive use and reduced risk of multiple
cardiovascular disease-related outcomes, including any cardiovascular
disease, hypercholesterolaemia, angina, myocardial infarction, transient
ischaemic attack, peripheral vascular disease and need for cardiac catheterisation
(all P<0.001).
Generally, risk reduction occurred after more than one year of oral contraceptive
use. However, angina, transient ischaemic attack and peripheral arterial
disease risks decreased only with more than four years of oral contraceptive
use. “In stark contrast to recent and previous findings, our data
support significant cardiovascular disease risk reductions in women with
a history of oral contraceptive use,” say the researchers, adding
that increased use resulted in increased risk reduction.
For cancers, the researchers found an association between oral contraceptive
use and reduced risk for any cancer (P<0.001), endometrial cancer
(P<0.001) and ovarian cancer (all P<0.005). When controlling for
risk factors, there was no effect on risk of breast cancer, bladder cancer
or colon cancer.
Data from the two analyses were presented at the 60th annual meeting
of the ASRM held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, last week.
Latest evidence for HRT The Women’s Health Initiative
has provided further evidence to link use of hormone replacement
therapy
with venous thrombosis. Data show that oestrogen plus progestogen
is associated with a doubling of the risk
of venous thrombosis (JAMA 2004;292:1573).
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