All drugs come with their own set of possible risks and side effects, right? But, what if that risk was life-threatening – a brain tumor to be exact? Turns out, that could be the case for women who take birth control pills.
According to a recent study conducted by Danish researchers at the Odense University Hospital and the University of Southern Denmark, women aged 15-49 who took hormonal contraceptives that contained estrogen, progestin, or a combination for 5+ years were 90 percent more likely to develop a rare brain tumor called glioma.
Furthermore, women who used hormonal contraceptives at any point in their lives were 50 percent more likely to developing a brain tumor compared to those who didn’t, but don’t panic!
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Dr. David Gaist, a neurologist at the Odense University Hospital, says birth control doesn’t directly cause glioma and that these findings shouldn’t be a reason for women to stop taking birth control. He told the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology:
“If you took at women in Denmark aged 15 to 49, about five in 100,000 experience that terrible diagnosis in a year, and that figure includes women on hormonal contraceptives, so it’s a very rare event.”
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Interestingly enough, previous studies have suggested that estrogen and progestin might actually protect women against glioma, but the women who participated in these studies were post-menopause.
Also, women who used progestin-based birth control were slightly more likely to develop gliomas, but it’s believed that obesity played a role.
Of course, there’s still a lot more research that needs to be done on how birth control pills affect the brain. In the meantime, if you’re taking hormonal contraceptives and you’re concerned about your health, it’s never a bad idea to talk with your doctor.
