Whether you're a monthly or seasonal woman, a pill popper or a rubber ring kind of girl, taking birth control pills may actually, truly extend your lifespan -- at least according to what researchers are reporting from across the pond in London. For the past four decades, British scientists have been tracking 46,000 women who started taking the pill in the late 1960s -- and stuck with it for an average of four years -- versus women who never tried the drug. What they found is that birth control patients reduced their risk of dying from bowel cancer by 38% and several other diseases by 12%.
Although the researchers can't yet pinpoint the exact reason for the reduced mortality rates, a couple of theories up for debate include the idea that suppressing ovulation may keep certain diseases in check, and that women on the pill may be healthier, in general.
But before you demand your gyno fork over a pill pack, there's one caveat: Today's oral contraceptives are very different from Mom's pregnancy preventers, so the risks and benefits could differ for us still-fertile women. Of course, what I really want to know is what effect actually having children has on life expectancy.
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Tuesday 23 March
By Kagu
I would want to know the details of this study before I trusted any headline touting such "life saving" results. The first thing that comes to my mind is financial correlation. Women on the pill are women who can *afford* the pill. People with some disposable wealth are more healthy than women in poverty (ie who wouldnt be able to afford the pill). There are dozens of other causes that could result in this relationship and I'd want to know what they control for.
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Friday 19 March
By Elysia
Funny, as I've just been advised to stop taking it as it significantly raises my risk of breast cancer (been taking it >10 years, have a family history).
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Friday 19 March
By MB
The risks of Yaz and other low-dose contraceptives (like gallbladder problems, increased chance of blood clots, quashed libido, greatly reduced energy) definitely outweigh any potential "life-lengthening effect." Given their questionable short and long-term side effects, it unnerves me that these Rx are being doled out to women by the boatloads, and even more so that they're being touted as miracle drugs. I wonder if Bayer Pharmaceuticals—or perhaps their UK equivalent—had anything to do with that study.
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Sunday 21 March
By RCBERG
Hey what r u talking about?
My friends daugther in law (shes only 25) had a full fledged Stroke from the pill.
Check your facts pleaseeeeeeeeee,
RCB
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Tuesday 23 March
By Hani
I don't trust any british report ever again. the british has been using their research crap for telemarketing as they told us about the blueberris great food because they simply had too much blueberries in stock. although I never heard but bad stuff about the pill and in some reports it caused cancer just like blueberries which been with us for centuries yet it was insignificent
excuse me but this is another telemarketing sceem to raise their stock. ni it has no truth and I bet if you research it you find problems and not healthy issues at all. spare me the bull shit
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