Cancer, the Pill, and a Load of Bull
This report sounds like a smarmy guy’s attempt to get his girlfriend on birth-control, but apparently research has determined that “the pill” protects against ovarian cancer. Maria Cheng of the Associated Press reports:
"Not only does the pill prevent pregnancy, but in the long term, you actually get less cancer as well," said Valerie Beral, the study's lead author and director of the Cancer Research UK Epidemiology Unit at Oxford University. "It's a nice bonus." The study was paid for by Cancer Research UK and Britain's Medical Research Council.Now, reports like this spread like wildfire. Actually, they’re more like a nugget that won’t flush. So in keeping up with the media frenzy, I asked Dr. Fuhrman about this research. Here’s what he had to say:
Beral and colleagues analyzed data from 45 studies worldwide, covering 23,257 women with ovarian cancer, of whom 31 percent were on the pill. They also looked at 87,303 women without ovarian cancer, of whom 37 percent were on the pill.
In both groups, the women on the pill took it for about five years. The researchers found that in rich countries, women taking oral contraceptives for a decade were less likely to develop ovarian cancer. Without the pill, about 12 women per 1,000 are expected to get ovarian cancer before age 75. But that figure dropped to 8 women per 1,000 in those on the pill.
It increases the risk of the most common cancer in women; breast cancer and decreases the risk of ovarian cancer, which is comparatively rare and they are promoting more widespread use of the pill giving the false conclusion that it decreases cancer deaths overall. Pure bull! If people want to really decrease their risk of cancer they are simply going to have to eat lots of vegetables and exercise. How boring!Honestly, can you make a bigger case for this country’s magical pill obsession? I mean come on! The medication in question is called, “THE PILL.” Perhaps next they’ll tell us it can part the sea and turn water into wine.
