Summary: Birth Control
Pill Linked to Artery-Clogging Plaques
Birth control
pills have been linked for the first time to plaques that could
potentially endanger the heart.
On the second day of the American Heart
Association's Scientific Sessions 2007 Conference, Dr. Ernst
Rietzschel reported on a recent finding of himself and his
colleagues. Dr. Rietzschel and his colleagues studies 1,301 women,
ages 35-55 years old, in the Belgian community. All of the women
were at a low risk for cardiovascular disease. Of the 1,301 women,
352 were taking oral contraceptives. About 81% of those women had
taken oral contraceptives for at least one year, and the median
exposure to oral contraceptives was 13 years. The study found that
the women had a 20%-30% increased prevalence of artery-clogging
plaque for every 10 years of oral contraceptive exposure.1
1Abstract
3537: Oral Contraceptives Cause Major C-Reactive Protein Rises in
the Female General Population, Circulation, 2007; 116:II_800-II_801.
