New generation of birth-control pills carries higher risk of blood clots
April 22, 2011
A new generation of birth-control pills carries a higher risk that women will have blood clots, studies show.
Doctors say that women taking the new pills are 2 to 3 times more likely to develop blood clots than those using older oral contraceptives. The absolute risk remains low, doctors insist; for every 100,000 women taking the pills, only 31 would be expected to develop blood clots.
Since an estimated 50 to 80 million women worldwide take oral contraceptive pills, those statistics could point to an additional 15,000 to 25,000 blood clots.
For all current news, visit our News home page.
Further information:
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
