- BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters)
- Using the birth control pill can increase a woman's risk of developing
breast cancer, particularly if is she is still taking it after the age
of 45, scientists said on Saturday.
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- New research presented at the Third European Breast Cancer
Conference confirms the results of earlier, smaller studies which have
shown the chance of getting the disease rises by about 26 percent in women
who have used oral contraceptives compared to those who have not.
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- For women aged 45 and over the risk is doubled.
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- "It is a doubling in risk," Dr. Merethe Kumle,
of Community Medicine in Tromso, Norway told the conference.
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- "It is clear that oral contraceptives increase a
woman's risk of developing breast cancer, particularly when they are used
in the later period of reproductive life," she added.
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- Using data from a large lifestyle and health study, Kumle
and her team studied information on 103,027 women who were questioned about
their lifestyle, health and use of the pill in 1991/1992.
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- They followed the medical history of the women to December
1999 and found 1,008 cases of the disease. Most of the women had taken
newer versions of the pill which contain lower doses of hormones.
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- "I think the results from this study of Norwegian
and Swedish women are very interesting and confirm results from earlier
studies of oral contraceptive use," Kumle said.
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- Early pregnancy, late menopause, postponing childbirth
or not having children are risk factors for breast cancer which affects
about one million women worldwide each year.
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- Studies have also shown that using the pill and hormone
replacement therapy (HRT) can increase the risk of the disease, although
the risk decreases after women stop taking the drugs.
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- Kumle stressed that the risk for younger women, under
the age of 40, is very low. Most breast cancer is diagnosed in women 50
years and older.
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- "We found a slightly increased risk of breast cancer
among users of the pill, but it is important to underline that young women
using the pill are not playing hazard with their health. As contraception,
the pill should still be the drug of choice for young women," she
added.
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