Women using newer brands of the Pill may be at more than double the risk of dangerous blood clots compared with those using older types, say researchers. This is terrible news. All brands of Pill slightly increase the risk of developing clots, which can lead to deep vein thrombosis in the leg or arm and a potentially fatal blockage in the blood supply to the lungs – a pulmonary embolism. YIKES! However, a U.S. study which included data from British general practices says there is more than double the risk of getting a blood clot depending on the type of the hormone progestogen used in the product. Read more to see if your pill was one of the contraceptive methods tested.
MDLS – Doctors writing in the British Medical Journal want women to be given ‘low risk’ Pills as a first choice. Others dispute the findings, saying an international panel of experts found a similarly low level of risk of developing blood clots from any type of Pill.
The panel says having a family history of blood clots, being overweight and smoking raise the risk, irrespective of the Pill brand.
A study from Boston University School of Medicine found a twofold increased risk in non-fatal blood clots in women taking a drospirenone-containing Pill – such as Yasmin – compared with women using a levonorgestrel-based Pill – Microgynon, for example.
If 100,000 women were on the newer Pill for a year, there would be 30 such events, compared with 12.5 on the older type.
In another analysis, using GP data from the UK, the study also found a considerably increased risk for women taking drospirenone-containing brands compared with those using levonorgestrel-containing pills – they reported 23 cases per 100,000 women, compared with 9 for those using older Pills.
