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The oral contraceptive pill is one of the most commonly used drugs worldwide. But many women who use this highly reliable contraceptive worry that taking it for many years may be doing some damage to their health.
A British study, which followed a total of 46,000 women for 25 years, could allay those fears.
The study, which began in 1968, has shown that women who had ever taken the pill had death rates virtually identical to women who have never taken it.
Pill takers seemed slightly more at risk of dying from certain illnesses such as cervical cancer and strokes, but this is balanced out by reduced deaths from other causes, including cancer of the ovary.
Most of the women in the study were taking the older, high-dose oral contraceptive pill.
