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Does the pill help women live longer? Yes and no
15-Mar-2010  Permalink

Does the pill help women live longer? Yes and no

Splashed over the news today was the dramatic claim that the contraceptive pill could be helping women live longer- by Jessica Hamzelou

Yes, the pill that ushered in an unprecedented era of freedom for women - as a special bonus it's now increasing our lifespan. Sweet.

But hang on. The research does not necessarily mean that there are more pros than cons to taking the pill.

The media reports are based on an epic study by Philip Hannaford and colleagues at the University of Aberdeen, UK.  Starting in 1968, researchers at Aberdeen recruited family doctors to report back on their female patients. Since then the group have amassed a wealth of data on over 46,000 British women.

Hannaford's team looked for patterns between oral contraceptive use and death by disease or violent injury. Their list of diseases included hundreds - everything from cancers to circulatory and digestive disorders. The group also accounted for whether the women smoked or had given birth, and for their medical histories and social class.

The surprising outcome of the study was that women who had taken the pill at some point in their lives seemed to be less at risk of death by disease.

"This study, after following up a large group of women for 39 years, has shown there is no increased risk among women who have used the pill, in fact there is a small 12 per cent drop," Hannaford told the BBC

"Many women, especially those who used the first generation of oral contraceptives many years ago are likely to be reassured by our results," say the authors in the paper.

It's a different story for younger women. One of the more shocking figures drawn from the study is that women younger than 30 are three times more likely to die from disease if they have ever taken the pill. (Shocking, yes, when put like that, but in real terms, the figure equates to 20 more deaths per 100,000 women, or 0.02 per cent more women dying.)

These women are more likely to be current users, who still have an increased risk of developing breast cancer, says Hannaford. The benefits of the birth control pill only start to kick in when women stop taking it. "The risk disappears with age," Hannaford says.

But are young pill-takers really at risk of breast cancer? A 2002 study claimed to rule out any link between the two.

Aside from revealing the potential long-term perks of the pill, the study had another, more gruesome finding. Apparently, women who take the pill at some point in their lives are more likely to die a violent death.

It's hard to explain this finding, and the authors admit that they can't. "It might be that pill users have a riskier lifestyle," suggests Hannaford. But if lifestyle differences aren't being taken into account, perhaps the other findings aren't reliable either.

Originally published at New Scientist, click view to read more or for more information

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