Birth control pills increase a woman’s risk of life-threatening blood clots, a condition obese women are already at greater risk for than normal-weight women. Birth control pills with higher estrogen levels put women at even greater risk for developing blood clots, which can lead to deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, heart attack, stroke and even death. Thus, prescribing high-dose birth control pills to obese women can be dangerous.

The clinical trial involved 226 normal-weight or obese women who were randomly assigned to take pills with either a lower or higher estrogen dosage. All women underwent blood tests to determine if they were using the pills consistently. After three or four cycles, the women received multiple ultrasounds and blood tests to determine if their ovaries were making eggs. About 90 percent of normal-weight women and 72 percent of obese women had hormone levels that indicated consistent use.

Of the remaining 150 women who used the oral contraceptives regularly, three out of the 96 normal weight women conceived compared to one out of the 54 obese women, leading researchers to determine that obese women were just as protected against unwanted pregnancies while on the pill as normal-weight women.

This fall, the National Institutes of Health will convene a group of experts to investigate whether further research is necessary on obesity and oral contraceptives. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration plans to hear evidence that a new emergency contraceptive pill is less effective in obese women.

SOURCE: Yaz Lawsuit › Study: Birth control pills just as effective for obese women

According to data collected by Kissela and presented at an American Stroke Association conference last month, in little more than a decade the percentage of people in the Ohio-Kentucky area age 20 to 45 having strokes has skyrocketed from 4.5 percent to 7.3 percent. Experts say they expect national statistics to mirror those in Ohio-Kentucky.

Kissela blames poor diets that spur obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure in younger individuals. But according to Diane Book, director of the stroke program at Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa, another risk factor is the prevalence of birth control pills. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that birth control pill use among females age 15 to 44 has increased from 27 percent in 1995 to 31 percent in 2002.

Oral contraceptives can significantly increase a woman’s risk of stroke by two to three times more than for women who do not take birth control pills. Makers of oral contraceptives are required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to warn consumers of the increased risk of strokes and other health hazards from use of their products, but more than 1,100 women injured by birth control pills have filed lawsuits against Bayer, the makers of the blockbuster birth control pill Yaz, saying the company didn’t sufficiently warn them.

SOURCE: Yaz Lawsuit › Birth control pills contribute to more strokes among young women