The impact of oral contraceptive (OC) use on cardiovascular diseases and carcinogenesis is a major issue in clinical practice and research in developing countries. Overall the most recent research suggests that OCs lower the risk of endometrial and ovarian cancer and this protection is long-lasting. There is no association with skin melanoma and breast cancer risk although there is a moderately increased risk of breast cancer among current OC users. The relative risk of both cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease is increased about 2-fold in current OC users but no such association has been found in ex-users. Despite these generally favorable findings OC prescribing literature focuses heavily on contraindications and adverse side effects. This distortion may result in the unnecessary avoidance or termination of OCs by many women in need of an effective reversible contraceptive method.
Discussion(0)
No comments yet. Be the first to comment.