Third-Generation Birth Control Pills Associated with Stroke
February 10, 2002
Over the last forty years, female birth control medications have undergone many modifications in an effort to reduce side effects associated with the drugs. Health care providers received damaging news last week when researchers involved in a female contraceptive study revealed findings indicating that the latest generation of birth control pills, so-called "third-generation contraceptives," do not decrease a woman's risk of suffering a stroke.
The study, conducted by scientists in the Netherlands, examined over 1,000 women. The risk of stroke was found to be double for third-generation birth control users.
Birth control pills contain estrogen, a hormone that interferes with female egg release. Estrogen is also associated with blood clots. A clot can lead to stroke if it forms in the brain. Third-generation pills contain smaller doses of estrogen than their predecessors, but the study found that the medication still places women at risk.
-- Article Courtesy of InjuryBoard.com
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