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THE PILL CUTS HEART DISEASE AND CANCER ; Biggest Study Reveals New Health Benefits

Posted on: Friday, 22 October 2004, 06:00 CDT

THE Pill cuts women's risk of heart disease and cancer, scientists have found.

After decades of scares, the US Women's Health Initiative, which studied 162,000 women, found those who had taken the oral contraceptive had a lower chance of heart problems.

Their chance of all forms of cancer also dropped by seven per cent.

And the Pill had no effect at all on the risk of developing some types of cancer, including breast cancer, which earlier studies had suggested was more likely if the Pill was used.

But the scientists behind the study say much more research remains to be done.

The type of hormones and the stage of life when they are used may be what makes them helpful at one point and harmful at another.

Dr Michael Diamond of Wayne State University in Detroit, said: 'We're still learning more and more about the biology.'

Most versions of the Pill combine synthetic forms of oestrogen and progestin in various doses.

Women taking these hormones after menopause were found to be more likely to have heart disease and certain cancers - which caused part of the study involving hormone replacement therapy to be stopped.

Previous research on oral contraceptives suggested that they, too, raised the chances of heart disease.

But the latest study found the opposite - lower risk of heart attacks, strokes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and other heart-related problems among the 67,000 women in the study who had ever taken the Pill.

Lead researcher Dr Rahi Victory said: 'Overall, there's an eight per cent risk reduction of having cardiovascular disease among women who had ever taken birth control pills. If you use oral contraceptives early, you're probably going to be protectedlater in life.'

But Scottish obstetrician Dr Doris Campbell urged women to be wary.

The Aberdeen doctor said: 'I would need to have a good look at this research and how it was carried out before being confident about its findings. Risks are attached to many treatments but people have to put them in perspective.'

Source: Daily Record; Glasgow (UK)

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