Women who take the pill are not at greater risk of developing cancer than others. It would even have a protective effect.
Birth control pill protects against certain cancers for decades, reports study published in theAmerican Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
The side effects of hormonal contraception have been the subject of debate within the scientific community for years. According to an expert report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) carried out in 2005 and updated in 2012, women on the combined estrogen-progestogen pill, known as the combined pill, have a slight increased risk of breast, cervical or breast cancer. liver.
This increase is especially observed in patients who have chosen this contraception for a long time. However, the risk returns to normal after stopping the pill. Similar effects are noted for the microdosed pills.
On the other hand, the pill has advantages. Studies analyzed by the IARC show, in fact, that the combined pills reduce the risk of ovarian or endometrial cancer. Some even suggest a reduced risk of colorectal cancer.
No more risks
Conclusions confirmed by the work of the University of Aberdeen (Great Britain). These were based on one of the oldest cohorts of women using the contraceptive pill. Started in 1969, this study aimed to study the long-term effects of oral contraception.
Dr. Lisa Iversen then used health data from more than 46,000 women, including 23,000 who had never used oral contraception.
The results show that the pill protects against different types of cancer for at least 30 years. “By analyzing this data collected over 44 years, we found that women who used the pill have a lower risk than others of developing colorectal, endometrial or ovarian cancer,” says the researcher.
Better yet, analyzes suggest that women taking the pill during their reproductive life are no more likely than others to develop cancer later in life. These results seem to confirm that stopping the pill reduces the risk and a return to normal, but also that this hormonal contraception does not expose to other cancers.
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