Hormonal contraceptives increase the likelihood of stroke
Almost 100 million women in the world take hormonal birth control pills. Modern drugs contain much smaller doses of hormones than the first hormonal contraceptives. The relationship between oral contraceptive use and stroke risk has been the subject of controversy for several decades, and its study has led to contradictory results.
Neurologists of Loyola University (Loyola University, Maywood, Illinois, USA), working under the guidance of Dr. Jose Biller, conducted a meta-analysis of the results of all ever conducted work on the study of this problem, and came to the conclusion that the use of hormonal contraceptives doubles the risk of developing stroke.
There are 4.4 cases of stroke per 100,000 women of childbearing age annually. According to the results of a carefully conducted meta-analysis by the authors, the use of hormonal contraceptives increases the risk of developing this disease by 1.9 times – up to 8.5 strokes per 100,000 women. Thus, the risk is still low: one additional stroke per 25,000 women taking birth control pills.
However, this risk increases significantly if a woman taking hormones smokes, suffers from migraines or has high blood pressure.
When recommending hormonal contraceptives, doctors should carefully weigh the pros and cons for each individual patient. For healthy women who do not have risk factors, taking hormonal contraceptives may be quite justified, while women belonging to the categories listed above should be warned about possible adverse consequences.
How taking hormonal contraceptives can cause a stroke is currently unclear. Possible causes include an increased risk of increased blood pressure and thrombosis associated with taking such drugs.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of Science Daily: Increased Stroke Risk From Birth Control Pills, Review Finds.
05.11.2009