LATimes: Study Finds the Pill Lowers Health Risks

[DeepModem Mom]

THE NATION
Study Finds the Pill Lowers Health Risks

By Thomas H. Maugh II, Times Staff Writer


Birth control pills reduce the incidence of heart attacks and other forms of cardiovascular disease and lower the risk of certain types of cancer, including ovarian and endometrial, researchers said Wednesday.

A team from Wayne State University in Detroit used the massive data available on 162,000 women in the Women's Health Initiative — the same federal study that showed that hormone replacement therapy was much riskier than previously believed — to provide the most definitive word yet on the safety of the pill.

Previous smaller studies looking at the link between the pill and cardiovascular disease have come down on both sides of the issue, with some showing a risk and others showing a benefit. Overall, said Dr. Michael Diamond of Wayne State, the consensus had been that the hormones in the pill — estrogen and progestin — increased the risk of heart disease.

The new findings, he added, should be "very reassuring" for women taking the pill....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-pill21oct21,1,4818899.story?coll=la-home-nation