100 million women worldwide currently use oral contraceptives (OC). With so many of us being put on ‘the pill’ as standard when we become sexually active and often continuing for 10,15,20(+?) years without questioning this, I have often wondered whether if we stop and think about it – Is this actually OK? Yes, a reliable contraceptive method is without doubt essential. But interfering with our natural hormone levels, cycles, fertility, moods... I have to say seems like we are being almost sexist to ourselves. If you argue that it is a woman’s choice, I propose that if you offered the average woman a suitable alternative or an equally effective male alternative they would take it. With recent research linking long-term pill use to glaucoma I again question whether we can really anticipate all the future implications of interrupting our natural regulatory mechanisms and processes. Oestrogen and progesterone are anything but simple biochemicals.
Research has for some time been debating the possible link
of the pill and increased or decreased risk to particular cancers. However, it
is the effect on everyday living that is arguably equally if not more
important. Removal of ovulation and the natural changes in hormone levels
throughout the cycle can leave women feeling emotionally numb and often
depressed. It’s hard to know when you are having a low period or being truly
yourself or whether the pill is really affecting quality of life. Research into
the pill and depression is limited; however there is suggestion that increased
levels of oestrogen and progesterone (as in the POP) can cause lower levels of
serotonin, the happy hormone. On
discussion with friends we have all changed brand of OC at least once over
worries that our mood has been lowered by a particular pill and on reflection
should have asked whether we should be on it at all. I have had a year here and
there where I have decided on a break when fear of this and other serious
health links (deep vein thrombosis, stroke, heart attack, cervical/liver/breast
cancer) have played on my mind too much. Reasons for going back on, aside from
convenience as a contraceptive method have been the positive effects on
balancing out PMS, acne, period pains and hormone-related IBS as well as the
ability to control when you do or do not have a period for holidays. Attractive benefits, but most with realistic
non-hormone related alternatives.
As reports of pill use for 3+years doubling risk of glaucoma
currently in the press I have investigated other recent research into oral
contraceptives. An Austrian study in Brain Research this month suggests that OC
use may have profound effects on cognition. They detected a masculinisation of
brain responses in women on the pill compared to women having natural menstrual
cycles, as detected by fMRI responses to numerical tasks. Effectively, the progesterone
levels caused by OC use are resulting in our brains becoming more like men than
women. On top of this a German study has found that our brains respond more to
money as an attractive trait in a partner when on the pill than when allowing a
natural cycle, when we favour genetic benefit at times when we are most
fertile. So being on the pill may be even influencing our choice of partner.
The pill is also affecting men, both directly and
indirectly. With widespread speculation that oestrogen in our drinking water
(from the vast quantity that is excreted in our urine) is resulting in
feminisation of the male population, question over long-term effects on
fertility have also arisen. Further research has shown that when women follow a
natural cycle, their male partners find them more attractive around the time of
ovulation compared to the luteal cycle phase. As ovulation is removed when on
the pill this removes this effect and also results in the men rating themselves
as feeling less attractive when the woman is on the pill. It is notable
however, that there was no difference in female self-reported attractiveness.
At a time when there is a dearth in contraceptive methods
that bear the convenience and non-invasiveness of the pill it is difficult to
suggest re-thinking this approach. However I do hope that research continues
into this area and that further discoveries of the effect of the long-term
hormone disruption on other bodily systems do not emerge. As risk of DVT does
increase with age I would really reconsider staying with the pill after 35 and
also to be honest about smoking as this is also a big risk factor. There is
also the suggestion to look further into the different types of contraceptive
pill and their reported side effects and finding the one that seems most suited
to you, rather than relying on your GP to fully make the decision.
#thepill #oralcontraceptives #glaucoma #oestrogen #progesterone #contraception #hormones #the pill
by Rachel Brophy
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