Women who want to prevent unwanted pregnancy should think twice before using birth control pills or Intra-uterine devices (IUD). Researchers who study the benefits and risks of using of hormone-based contraceptives said that doctors should provide more details to their patients.

Contraceptives users more prone to breast cancer

Based on the research issued in the "New England Journal of Medicine," the risk of developing Breast Cancer in women is 20 percent higher compared to those who do not use contraceptive pills or devices. According to Ojvind Lidegaard and his team from the University of Copenhagen, women who used contraceptives for less than a year have an increased rate of nine percent while those who are using it for 10 years and beyond have a 38 percent higher risk, Time reports.

Plan B users have higher risk

The study was established on a particular health registry in Denmark and mandated that all filled prescriptions will be documented by law. The details of the prescription were accorded with a cancer registry to record any linkages between breast cancer and contraceptives. Lidegaard and his colleagues traced all hormonal contraceptives including patches, oral birth control pills, hormone-releasing IUDs, vaginal rings, injections, and what is known as Emergency Birth Control. They found out those women who used the emergency birth control levonorgestrel or the so-called, Plan B, have the highest accompanying risk compared to women who are non-users.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said that they would meticulously assess the new findings.

However, they stressed out that hormonal contraceptives are of the safest, capable, and practical alternatives there is.

“This is an important study because we had no idea how the modern day pills compared to the old-fashioned pills in terms of breast cancer risk, and we didn’t know anything about I.U.D.’s,” said Dr. Marisa Weiss, an oncologist and founder of the website breastcancer.org but not involved in the study.

Last June, the Food and Drug Administration recalled the birth control tablets, Mibelas 24 Fe that Lupin Pharmaceuticals doled out nationwide. The health agency said that there is nothing wrong with the pills but on the packaging itself. The tablets are not in sequence aside from the lot number and expiration date which are not visible.

The four placebo tablets were inaccurately placed at the start of the sequence. This made the active tablets not in its proper place in the rotation.

Looking at the brighter side, experts suggested that oral contraceptives also provide some benefits. These are associated with the decrease in endometrial, ovarian, and probably colorectal cancers in later life.
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