New research shows taking oral birth control pills may reduce the risk of some cancers.
A longitudinal study of forty years duration has just been released from the University of Aberdeen has provided us with the longest ongoing cohort study of women who have taken oral birth control pills.
The exciting news about this research is that if you have ever taken oral birth control pills for any length of time and then stopped taking them that you received the serendipitous benefit of a 20% reduction of a certain type of cancer. As the study reports there actually three types of cancer that you seem to be protected from and the degree of lifetime risk for these types of cancers ranges from 15-20%!
The three types of cancer that oral birth control pills will help protect you from are: Ovarian, endometrial, and colorectal. Also the study indicates that if you were not a smoker when you were on birth control pills you may have a reduced risk of lung cancer.
The lesson here is that hormone replacement does not hurt you especially estrogen or estradiol! As an OBGYN for thirty years I found myself dealing with messages regarding birth control that it was unsafe and that we should not administer it, especially for young girls, these people were scaring us regarding birth control pills because of other agendas. We now know that birth control pills are safe and that in addition to being safe they help protect us from Cancer.
Serendipity is when something happens when you do something else and you had no idea that it would. This research is just such a thing. We had no idea that bcp’s would protect us from Cancer. In fact we were sometimes told that it would lead to Cancer or other illnesses. Now we know the facts. Other agendas may still exist for political or religious reasons, but the medical facts are facts. Listen to our Healthcast for the discussion of this exciting new research monitoring the lives of thousands of women for over forty years to see the paths their health took. Add what they offer to your own databank of information for decision making for the health of the women in your lives who may be considering taking birth control pills.
This Health cast was written and presented by Dr. Kathy Maupin, M.D., Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Expert and Author, with Brett Newcomb, MA., LPC., Family Counselor, Presenter and Author. www.BioBalanceHealth.com.
