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Summary:
Birth Control
Pill Linked to Artery-Clogging Plaques
Birth control
pills have been linked for the first time to plaques that could
potentially endanger the heart.
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On the second day of the American Heart
Association's Scientific Sessions 2007 Conference, Dr. Ernst
Rietzschel reported on a recent finding of himself and his
colleagues. Dr. Rietzschel and his colleagues studies 1,301 women,
ages 35-55 years old, in the Belgian community. All of the women
were at a low risk for cardiovascular disease. Of the 1,301 women,
352 were taking oral contraceptives. About 81% of those women had
taken oral contraceptives for at least one year, and the median
exposure to oral contraceptives was 13 years. The study found that
the women had a 20%-30% increased prevalence of artery-clogging
plaque for every 10 years of oral contraceptive exposure.1
1Abstract
3537: Oral Contraceptives Cause Major C-Reactive Protein Rises in
the Female General Population, Circulation, 2007; 116:II_800-II_801.
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