Photography from Photodisc
Today's birth control pill is the silver bullet in a woman's health-care arsenal. The new generation of low-dose oral contraceptives that came on the market during the early 1990s has fewer side-effects than its predecessors and is endowed with almost mythical powers in fighting diseases of all stripes.
Big benefits
The benefits sound almost too good to be true. Among other things, the pill is credited with a 50 per cent reduction in ovarian cancer among its users and a 60 per cent reduction in endometrial cancer. (A woman with no other risk factors normally has a one in 43.5 chance of getting endometrial cancer and a one in 64.5 chance of getting ovarian cancer.) The pill also prevents ectopic (tubal) pregnancy and its associated problems. It reduces the incidence of benign breast disease, ovarian cysts, migraines, anemia caused by excessive monthly blood loss, acne and osteoporosis. Most recently, the pill got the nod for potentially lowering colon cancer risk, too.
Healthy, active, nonsmoking women at any point in the reproductive cycle stand to gain a lot by taking the new pill. Many doctors believe most women should strongly consider taking it for its astounding risk-reduction properties against ovarian and endometrial cancer. "We have gone beyond the idea of just taking the birth control pill for birth control until menopause, which is still a justifiable and appropriate thing to do," says Dr. Christine Derzko, a reproductive endocrinologist at the Women's Health Centre of St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto. "But there are a whole host of medical benefits that we have sort of glossed over, and we're increasingly aware that there are strong reasons for women to take the pill."
Not that Derzko or any other pill proponent would advocate its use by just anyone. Women with a history of thrombosis, cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke, liver disease or estrogen-dependent cancer are not good candidates for the pill. "There are a few people who shouldn't take it," she says. "But women in general should consider using oral contraceptives because of the medical benefits."
