Before you say that I am anti-hormonal birth control, I want to make this clear. I was on birth control for 13 years and with out it I would've probably have never finished school, played sports, or had a social life because of the amount of pain I was in. So no, I am not against hormonal birth control but I am pro-informed consent. I believe that every single individual on this earth reserves the right to knowing all their options and what the consequences are of each of those options are.
"Breast, cervical, liver and brain cancer risks all increase with the pill" (Dr. Brighten, 167). There have been several experts that have concluded that the longer our bodies continue to be exposed to synthetic oestrogen, we are at a higher risk of developing estrogen-related cancers. There was a study done by the New England Journal of Medicine that followed 1.8 million women and found that for every 100,000 women who were on the pill and other forms of hormonal birth control, 68 per year were likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer. They had even found that being exposed to the synthetic hormone progesterin posed an increased risk of breast cancer.
There was a systematic review of twenty-eight studies that looked at just over 12,000 women with cervical cancer and it was founded that cervical cancer is increased when taking the pill.
The risk actually doubles when someone has taken the pill for at least 10 years!
However, there have been some protective findings that are associated with the pill. Such as uterine, endometrial, ovarian and colorectal cancers are reduced in women that take the pill.
I do not have cancer however, I do have an aunt that was diagnosed with breast cancer and for this reason I should've never been put on hormonal birth control pill. It increases my risk of developing it and I wish a doctor would've recognised this over issuing another pill packet. It looks like the pill has been found to be harmful in some ways to cancer risks and beneficial to protect against other cancers. However, I will say that I agree with Dr. Brighten on this one. I agree that there have to be better ways of reducing our risks of cancer without suppressing a natural bodily function.
Being on hormonal birth control is totally and 100% your choice and I want YOU to reserve the right to pick the right method for yourself and to know all the researched benefits and side effects of it.
Xoxo,
Moonli
Brighten, Dr. J. (2018) Beyond the Pill. New York City, New York: HarperOne Publishing.
Comentarios