According to information presented on the Dr. Oz show last Friday, women who are able to continue taking birth control pills into their early- to mid-50's have a significantly lower risk of developing some cancers. (Not all women can do so due to other medical problems.) I wonder if this information will affect the thinking of the Catholic church, the religious right, or any of the current Republican presidential candidates.
Registered: 04/06/00
Posts: 24616
Loc: SLO County, CA - 66.122.77.142
Originally Posted By: paradocs
I wonder if this information will affect the thinking of the Catholic church, the religious right, or any of the current Republican presidential candidates.
Not as long as aspirin is available...;0)
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"A lot of things were acceptable--until we stopped accepting it." -- Al Sharpton '12
I have no idea whether or not these negative aspects of oral contraceptives were also presented on the program that you referred to, but no woman should think that they are a panacea.
Numerous studies have shown that oral contraceptives double the risk of stroke in otherwise healthy women, and more than double it in women who have risk factors such as hypertension, a family history of stroke, and also in those who also smoke.
There is also very significant risk of clot induced myocardial infarction associated with the use of oral contraceptives.
As such, the decision regarding the net health benefits for this class of medication is not simple, and must be weighed after careful consideration of all of a patient's medical and lifestyle risk factors. It should never be taken lightly, nor should the decision be based on blind faith in what some doctor guy on television says.
That is the reason I said that NOT ALL women can do so because of other medical problems.
Yes, you mentioned that not all women can take oral contraceptives due to other medical problems. However, you did not mention anything about the significant health risks associated with taking oral contraceptives, even if a woman is otherwise healthy and has no medical contraindications to taking that class of medication.
The two questions of whether or not a woman can take them, and whether or not a woman should take them are entirely separate and distinct issues. You mentioned the former but not the latter.
For the sake of completeness, and in the interest of promoting a fuller understanding of the risks involved, I presented the latter.
The question of whether or not any individual woman should take oral contraceptives is something that she must consider carefully, after considering all of the positive and negative implications, in consultation with her physician, and based upon her own individual circumstances.
I agree completely, not only concerning birth control but with ALL drugs and supplements (the possible exceptions being a daily multi-vitamin and the OCCASIONAL pain killer such as aspirin and acetominophen).
Here is a link to the government webpage on cancer risks of oral contraceptives.
Well I appreciate your ideas and I also know one thing that using supplements and pills might have side effects on kidneys and liver which may create problems for women . I would suggest all women to get doctor's advice and nothing else because they know better than us .
