Scientist Pille apparently prevented hundreds of thousands of cancer cases

Birth control pills can protect against uterine cancer according to the study 
Many women take birth control pills for years to protect themselves easily and safely from unwanted pregnancy. But critics repeatedly point out possible side effects and warn against an increased risk of thrombosis. However, a metastudy could show that the pill can also have a positive effect on health. Because of the contained hormones, the risk for uterine cancer can be reduced.

The most widely used contraceptive for more than 50 years
Since its official approval in 1960, birth control pills have been the most popular means of preventing pregnancy, which in this country makes use of about every third woman of childbearing age. When used correctly, it is considered to be the safest protection against accidental conception (Pearl Index: 0.3) because hormones suppress ovulation and prevent sperm from entering the uterus. As with any other medicine, however, side effects may occur. Possible here are e.g. Headaches, mood swings and nausea, also experts discuss again and again about an increased risk of thrombosis.

Allegedly, the pill can protect against cancer. Image: Andrey Popov - fotolia

But apparently, the intake can also have a positive effect on health. Because, as an international research team in the journal "Lancet Oncology" reported, a metastudy showed that the pill could reduce the risk of uterine cancer. According to the scientists in their report, hundreds of thousands of cases of this type of cancer have been prevented in the past 50 years by the drug in the industrialized nations. A very important result, as the uterine cancer represents the fourth most common cancer in women, which affects more than 11,500 women every year.

Risk after five years of taking pills significantly lower
The experts evaluated 36 studies from North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and South Africa on the subject of uterine cancer and in this way analyzed the data of 27,276 diseased and 115,743 healthy women. They found that out of 1,000 women in developed countries who had never used contraceptive oral contraceptives, 23 had uterine cancer before their 75th birthday. Those who took the pill for five years, however, were at a lower risk, with only 17 out of a thousand women suffering from their 75th birthday.

The effect was even more pronounced in the women who had used the contraceptive for over ten years, as only 13 out of 1,000 women were affected, the researchers say. The protection would therefore not be limited by the lower estrogen content in the modern "mini pills", also consider the protective effect even years after ingestion. "This large study also included data on how long the effect will last - it has been shown that the risk of uterine cancer in women is still reduced more than 30 years after discontinuing the pill," said Fiona Osgun in a statement by the research organization "Medical Research Council "(UK), which funded the project.

200,000 prevented cases in the last ten years
"We estimate that over the past 50 years, approximately 400,000 cases of uterine cancer in women over the age of 75 in high-income countries have been prevented by the use of oral contraceptives, including approximately 200,000 in the last decade," explains study author Dr. Naomi Allen continues. (No)