Washington D.C., Aug 1, 2004 / 22:00 pm
A recent study by prominent medical organizations has determined that the latest contraceptive pills continue to pose a risk for embolism in women.
Thromboembolism consists of the formation of blood clots in the veins or arteries, which can travel to the brain or lungs and become life-threatening.
In an attempt to measure the relationship between thromboembolism and the use of today’s oral contraceptives that contain low dosages of estrogen, researchers of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in California and of Northwest University in Chicago conducted a study on women between the ages of 15 and 44.
The study examined 196 women with thromboembolism and compared them with 746 women who did not have the illness.
Blood samples for both groups of women were taken to determine if there was any sort of genetic predisposition to the disorder.
The study, which was recently published in the magazine “Contraception,” showed that the risk of developing thromboembolism among users of oral contraceptives with low dosages of estrogen was four times greater than for non-users of the pills. The risk was even greater in obese women.
The study also showed that women with a genetic predisposition towards thromboembolism were at a risk seven to eleven times greater, and even in women without the predisposition the risk was three times higher.
It is believed that thromboembolism is associated with the quantity of estrogen in contraceptives, and for this reason during the last three decades producers of contraceptives who lowered the dosages of estrogen in their pills.
The discoveries of this new study confirm previously reported data concerning the use of oral contraceptives in high dosages, and it is one of the few studies carried out on the new generation of oral contraceptives.
According to the study, the new generation of contraceptives is not significantly safer, in regards to thromboembolism, than their predecessors.