Health article index >> Low Dose Birth Control Pills Can Lower Ovarian Cancer Risk (Reuters Health) - Birth control pills with low doses of the hormones estrogen and progestin appear to be just as effective at reducing ovarian cancer risk as higher-dose pills, researchers report. "The protection afforded by oral contraceptives against ovarian cancer appears to be independent of the dose of estrogen or progestin," conclude Dr. Roberta B. Ness of the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, and colleagues. What's more, the protective effect of low-dose pills continued 30 years or more after women stop taking them and occurred after as little as 1 year of exposure, the authors report in the August 1st issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology. Birth control pills, or oral contraceptives, have been shown to lower a woman's risk of developing ovarian cancer due to synthetic forms of the hormones estrogen and progestin. However, high doses of these hormones are also associated with increased risk of breast cancer and stroke. For this reason, oral contraceptives with lower hormonal doses have replaced earlier versions. While low-dose pills are equally effective as higher-dose pills at suppressing ovulation, their effect on ovarian cancer risk is not known. In the study, nearly 800 women with ovarian cancer were compared with more than 1,300 women who did not have cancer. Overall, women who used birth control pills had a 40% lower risk of developing ovarian cancer. The risk was further reduced the longer the duration of oral contraceptive use. But the risk of developing ovarian cancer was the same for women who began using oral contraceptives before 1972, when high-dose pills dominated the market, and those who began using oral contraceptives after the 1980s, when lower-dose pills were the norm. High-dose pills contain at least 50 micrograms of estrogen. "In summary, our findings indicate that oral contraceptive formulations in common use today protect against ovarian cancer and that this effect continues long after use has stopped," Ness and colleagues conclude. SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology Health article index >> News I Health I Wellness I Exercise I Profiles I Business I Links I Women ROCK! Product Review I To the Point I Contact I Home Created by: Art Street Design Studio. © Concerning Women Communications, Inc. all rights reserved.