Breast cancer and birth control: A huge new study shows how science can be distorted

By C line Gounder KFF Wellness News As misinformation about women s physical condition spreads faster than ever doctors say new research on the risks of hormonal birth control underscores the challenge of communicating nuance in the social media age The massive analysis which was conducted in Sweden and tracked more than million teenage girls and women under age for more than a decade uncovered that hormonal contraception remains safe overall but also identified small differences in breast cancer liability based on the hormones used in the formulation In addition the researchers observed a small short-term rise in breast cancer diagnoses among current or newest users Those findings are consistent with prior large studies including a Danish registry analysis and a meta-analysis It was published online Oct in JAMA Oncology Doctors say these examination results won t change how they advise patients and that women should not stop using their birth control Still TikTok is flooded with factually incomplete warnings that contraceptives cause cancer and are as dangerous as smoking Reproductive vitality advocates warn that studies like this can easily be taken out of context online and be reduced to a single alarming number Development in point The assessment disclosed that women who had used hormonal birth control had about a higher rate of breast cancer than women who hadn t But because breast cancer is still uncommon in younger women that works out to an increase from roughly to breast cancer cases per women per year about extra cases per women or about one extra situation per users of hormonal contraceptives per year Co-authors sa Johansson and Fatemeh Hadizadeh epidemiologists at Uppsala University stated the rise is modest and short-term with threat highest during current use and fading within five to years after stopping Rachel Fey interim co-CEO of Power to Decide a group whose mission is to provide accurate information on sexual soundness and contraceptive methods explained that kind of nuance is exactly what tends to disappear on social media I get really angry at this because it s designed to scare people like me away from birth control which has made my life so much better in so a large number of tactics she mentioned It s really frustrating especially when it s given without context And then in this era of social media it can just take off without anybody who knows what they re talking about providing that context The researchers also revealed the vulnerability was slightly higher with certain progestins such as desogestrel determined in combined oral contraceptives like Cyred EQ Reclipsen Azurette and Pimtrea but did not increase with others such as medroxyprogesterone acetate injections sold under the brand name Depo Provera Related Articles Trump administration says lower prices for Medicare drugs will save taxpayers billions Kids get diseases like lupus too As researchers hunt better treatments this camp brings ecstasy Brigham and Women s nurses oppose move to merge burn units into single systemwide venture at MGH ByHeart baby formula from all lots may be contaminated with botulism bacteria tests show They relied on marijuana to get through the day But then days felt impossible without it How to interpret the findings Selected experts say the results should be viewed with care because the inquiry counted both invasive breast cancers and early noninvasive lesions known as in situ tumors growths that may never become life-threatening Including these precancerous cases could make the overall pitfall of clinically critical malady appear higher than it is A substantial proportion of the cases would never have progressed to invasive breast cancer revealed Lina S M rch a senior researcher and group leader at the Danish Cancer Institute M rch was not associated with the Swedish scrutiny She added that experts should wait for more statistics separating early-stage and advanced cancers before making new rules or warnings about specific hormones The doctor-patient conversation Even as scientists debate how to interpret the finer points of the facts physicians emphasize that for the greater part patients the evaluation reinforces what they already discuss in the exam room that hormonal birth control is broadly safe and decisions should be tailored to each woman s requirements and values Katharine White chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Boston Therapeutic Center revealed this scrutiny won t change how she talks to her patients When counseling patients about their contraceptive options I focus on their past experiences with birth control their therapeutic history and what s central to them about their birth control method and pregnancy planning if applicable White wrote in an email Side effects and risks of methods are already a key part of my counseling about both hormonal and non-hormonal methods Other doctors noted there are other contraceptive options Eleanor Bimla Schwarz chief of General Internal Medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital announced For those who prefer hormone-free contraception the copper IUD offers safe convenient highly effective contraception for over a decade after placement and is rapidly reversible when pregnancy is desired referring to a type of long-acting intrauterine device Mary Rosser director of Integrated Women s Healthcare at Columbia University Irving Healthcare Center disclosed this was a large high-quality review that looked at countless types of hormones over countless years But she added that doctors shouldn t change their advice yet Johansson and Hadizadeh stressed that the results should guide shared decision-making not cause alarm It may be reasonable to consider formulations associated with lower observed threat in our records they reported They noted that products containing medroxyprogesterone acetate drospirenone or levonorgestrel were linked to lower jeopardy while long-term use of desogestrel-only contraceptives might be best avoided when other options fit Keeping the liability in perspective Hormonal birth control provides several soundness benefits beyond pregnancy prevention It can lighten heavy periods ease pain from endometriosis and lower the pitfall of ovarian and uterine cancers for years after stopping M rch noted that even small risks are worth discussing but mentioned decisions should be guided by women s values and preferences White noted it s key to see the big picture The danger of an unintended pregnancy is for people who do not use contraception so any risks of birth control need to be weighed against the menace of an unexpected pregnancy she wrote KFF Wellness News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC