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THE PILL MAY DOUBLE STROKE RISK

Women taking low estrogen preparations of birth control have more than twice the risk of ischemic stroke than women not taking any form of oral contraceptive, new research shows. Ischemic strokes occur when arterial disease blocks blood flow to part of the brain, causing brain damage.

When the new low-estrogen preparations of birth control pills came on the market, they were touted as being much safer than higher-estrogen preparations in existence – and they are, study another Dr. S. Claiborne Johnston of the Department of Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco, told Reuters. However, clinicians have considered them virtually risk-free for ischemic stroke, and they are not, he said. Still, while the risk is greater for women who take low- estrogen combinations versus those not taking anything, the risk remains small, he said. Johnston and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of studies published on the topic from January 1960 through November 1999.

(As reported in The Hindu Business Lines)