Hormonal birth control raises the risk of breast cancer, according to a shocking study

The study’s authors stressed that the increased risk of breast cancer must be weighed against the benefits of hormonal birth control, which include protection against other types of female cancer. Hormonal contraception raises breast cancer risk

Two-hormone, or combined, contraceptives, which use both estrogen and progestogen, have been linked to an increased risk of this kind of cancer by previous research.

Even though the number of women using contraceptives that only contain progestogens has been going up for more than a decade, not much research has been done on how this affects the risk of breast cancer. The study, which was published in the journal PLOS Medicine, found that the risk of breast cancer for women using hormonal birth control with both estrogen and progestogen was about the same as for those using only progestogen.

Higher risk of developing breast cancer:

The study found that women who use hormonal contraception have a 20 to 30 percent higher risk of developing breast cancer than those who do not. The results match up with other research, including a large study that came out in 1996.

The risk is about the same whether you take a pill, an IUD, an implant, or an injection, or whether you take a combined pill or just a progestogen.

Since the chance of getting breast cancer goes up with age, the researchers figured out how much extra risk is caused by hormonal birth control.

For women taking hormonal contraceptives for a period of five years between the ages of 16 and 20, it represented eight occurrences of breast cancer per 100,000, they noted.

Between 35 and 39 years old, it was 265 cases per 100,000.

‘Very modest absolute risk increase’:

“Nobody likes to hear that something they’re doing is going to raise their risk of this kind of cancer by 25%,” said , a co-author of the study and a professor of statistical epidemiology at the University of Oxford. “We’re talking about a very minor increase in absolute danger,” Reeves explained.

She said, “These increases in breast cancer risk have to be seen in the light of what we know about the many benefits of hormonal contraception.” “Not only to prevent pregnancy but also because we know that oral contraceptives protect women from ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer for a long time and in a big way.”

The risk of breast cancer decreases in the years following a woman’s discontinuation of hormonal contraception:

The study also confirmed, as have previous studies, that the risk of such cancer decreases in the years following a woman’s discontinuation of hormonal contraception. Stephen Duffy, a professor at the Queen Mary University of London who did not take part in the study, said that the results are “reassuring” because they show that the effect is small.

The study looked at information from almost 10,000 women under 50 who got breast cancer between 1996 and 2017 in the UK, where progestogen-only birth control is now as common as the combined method.

Reasons why progestogen-only birth control is becoming more popular?

Reeves says there are many reasons why progestogen-only birth control is becoming more popular. They are recommended for women who are breastfeeding, who may be at risk for heart problems, or who have smoked for more than 35 years. Reeves said, “That could be because women use birth control pills with hormones today, even when they are older.”

“As a result, they are more likely to get the other diseases that are made more likely by combination contraception.”

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