‘THE CONTRACEPTIVE PILL IS SAFE!’
A 28-year-old woman recently suffered a stroke caused in part by her contraceptive pill, but Dr Christian explains why this isn’t reason for panic
Ayoung woman A having a stroke is horrible, but it isn’t evidence the Pill is unsafe. Doctors are fully aware of the increased risk of blood clots, which can lead to a stroke, because the hormones in the Pill can make blood more likely to thicken. But the risk is very small – of every 10,000 women taking the combined Pill, six would develop blood clots, as opposed to two in 10,000 women not on the Pill. That’s why these kinds of stories make headlines – because it’s so unlikely.
We doctors know who should and shouldn’t be on it, but of course there are also weird genetic differences that can increase your risk of certain health complications that we can’t predict, as in this case.
THE RISK IS TINY
Campaigners often say there should be more awareness about the risks, but every single pack lists all the possible side-effects, and every single doctor asks their patient a series of questions before prescribing the Pill.
There’s a lot of talk about the newer generation Pills, like Yasmin and Marvelon, being more dangerous, but that’s because the higher the dose of oestrogen in your Pill, the greater the risk – but the risk is still tiny. Also, it’s called the “combined” contraceptive pill because the oestrogen is always combined with something else. For example, Levonorgestrel gives you a lower risk of clots, so most GPS will prescribe one of those.
DRAMATIC HEADLINES
Also, while it’s easy to focus on the risks associated with oestrogen, there are benefits too – women who take the Pill long-term are 50 per cent less likely to get ovarian or uterine cancer. Hundreds of millions of women worldwide take the Pill, and over 3 million in the UK. That’s a huge pool of data that supports how safe it is.
These stories make dramatic headlines, but they cause unnecessary concern. The factors that we know will slightly increase your risk of health complications are a strong family history of blood clots, obesity, being over 35, being very sedentary, having migraines, high blood pressure, being a smoker and having another existing undiagnosed medical condition. If you’re newly on the Pill and worried about any changes in your health, go back to your GP. But 53 years of data can’t be wrong – the Pill is safe.