According to the study, a woman's ovarian cancer risk is cut by 20 percent for every five years she is on the pill. Researchers tracked women who had never taken the pill to those who had taken it for more than 15 years. They found that even 30 years after women had stopped taking the pill, they still had about a 15 percent reduced risk of getting ovarian cancer, compared to women who had never taken oral contraceptives.You'll forgive me for being a bit skeptical of Lancet studies, but taking it at face value, as long-term use of the pill increases the risk of breast and cervical cancers, I'm not sure we should whoop and holler. Not to mention:
most doctors do not suggest that women take the pill exclusively for its anticancer properties. The pill comes with side effects including risks of blood clots, migraines, and high blood pressure. Those risks are particularly elevated in women in their late 30s and in smokers.So: if you survive the other hideous side effects long enough, you might not get cervical cancer. What a bargain! Whatever. It's only women.
This remark amused me: Scientists don't know why the pill increases some cancer risks while decreasing others.
"It may have something to do with the hormones in the contraceptives," said Dr. Debbie Saslow, director of breast and gynecologic cancer at the American Cancer Society.Ya think?
