The wide assumptions regarding newer birth control pills are that they are better than older medications and are completely safe. However, a recent study showed that even these newer and improved oral contraceptives are linked to increased risk of breast cancer. The study is published in New England Journal of Medicine and screened about 1.8 million women for over about 11 years. Among these, 11,517 developed breast cancer.
As compared with women who had never used hormonal contraception, the relative risk of breast cancer among all current and recent users of hormonal contraception was 1.20. This risk increased from 1.09 with less than 1 year of use to 1.38 with more than 10 years of use. After discontinuation of hormonal contraception, the risk of breast cancer was still higher among the women who had used hormonal contraceptives for 5 years or more than among women who had not used…
