Oral contraceptive pill reduces long-term mortality risk
19 March 2010
Women who use the oral contraceptive pill have a reduced risk of death from cancer and other diseases in middle to old age, evidence suggests.
More than a million women years of data from a general practice study in the UK showed that while Pill users younger than 30 years had a 3-fold higher rate of death, this changes by the age of 50 years (BMJ 2010; in press).
Women who had ever used the pill were less likely to die from gynaecological and colorectal (bowel) cancers, heart disease, circulatory disease and hundreds of other disorders.
The study, which has up to 39 years of follow-up, gives a much clearer picture of death rates than previously available, researchers said.
Last Reviewed: 19 March 2010
- 1. Hannaford PC, Iversen L, Macfarlane TV, Elliot AM, Angus V, Lee AJ. Mortality among contraceptive pill users: cohort evidence from Royal College of General Practitioners Oral Contraception Study. BMJ 2010; 340: c927. Available at: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/340/mar11_1/c927
