How Safe is the Pill?
The birth control pill was introduced first to the American public in 1960 for contraceptive use. By 2002, 11.6 million U.S. women were using the Pill, making it the country’s leading method of contraception.
Oral contraceptives, though, can have negative effects on a woman’s health. The Pill’s relationship with the risk of blood clotting and stroke is well documented and that risk increases when a woman is a smoker, especially if she is over 35 years of age. In addition, studies in recent years have found that birth control pill use can impair muscle gains in young women, increase the risk of cervical cancer and increase the risk of breast cancer in pre-menopausal women.
The Pill may also interfere with a protein that keeps testosterone unavailable for women’s physiologic needs, which causes long-term health problems including sexual dysfunction. Since 2000, death rates have increased in women aged between 35 and 44. All other age groups have seen a decline. Research on this fact cites the significant increase in the use of the Pill as a possible contributing factor.
