Does taking birth control pills increase my risk for heart disease?
Taking birth control pills is generally safe for young, healthy women if they do not smoke. But birth control pills can pose heart disease risks for some women, especially women older than 35; women with high blood pressure, diabetes, or high cholesterol; and women who smoke. Talk with your doctor if you have questions about the pill.
If you're taking birth control pills, watch for signs of trouble, including:
•Eye problems such as blurred or double vision
•Pain in the upper body or arm
•Bad headaches
•Problems breathing
•Spitting up blood
•Swelling or pain in the leg
•Yellowing of the skin or eyes
•Breast lumps
•Unusual (not normal) heavy bleeding from your vagina
If you have any of these symptoms, call 911.
Source: The Office on Women's Health (OWH), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). http://www.womenshealth.gov/
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- At age 60, Phyllis Lewis watches what she eats, making sure to get plenty fruits and vegetables. She says, "I never liked fish, but I'm liking baked fish now."
At 20, she was diagnosed with hypertension. It was pretty surprising for the young newlywed even though her mom had heart disease.
"I had bad headaches and I attributed it to migraines, allergies," she says. "They checked my kidneys, they were OK; and my heart, I did a stress test and all the usual blood stuff and no problem there.
"They said, 'First of all, are you on birth control pills?' I said, 'Yes.' 'Well,' they said, 'you can't take them anymore.'"
She says the doctor attributed her hypertension to taking the pill. "I feel like at that time, the 70s they were newest ones."
It's a connection, not unheard of. High blood pressure or hypertension is just one of several risk factors listed on the pill's packaging and one Arkansas Heart Hospital cardiologist Dr. Patrick Flaherty says has been around for decades.
He says, "If you look at past literature on oral contraceptives and oral hormone replacement therapy, that concern dates back 40 years."
Sixty two percent of women between the ages of 15 and 44 take some form of contraceptive. For women under the age of 30, the pill is the preferred method. But most oral contraceptives contain a synthetic mixture of estrogen and progesterone. Progesterone can affect blood pressure because of its direct effect on small blood vessels. But taking the pill is not the biggest factor contributing to women's risk for heart disease.
In the past, a heart condition wasn't something usually seen in a woman under the age of 40, but two major culprits now have more younger women, heading to the hospital.
Flaherty says, "The big problem in that is obesity and diabetes. I think all of us at some point had this horror story of the 28-year-old woman who's shown up with a heart attack."
For Phyllis, it wasn't a heart attack. After her diagnosis of hypertension, at 27 she had a stroke. She says, "It was very light and I was thankful to God that I could work."
More than three and a half decades later, she's OK.
"Living with it is OK; it's the controlling it sometimes."
Once you stop taking the pill, Dr. Flaherty says your risks decrease. "Typically, those who are hypertensive on hormone therapy, once that therapy is stopped, they'll typically return to normal."
And unless you have a pre-determined risk factor, like genetics or something else, Flaherty says it's not something to be overly worried about.
"This falls in with any concern, contact your doctor. Usually, that type of medication is going to be followed up with visits."
As for Phyllis, she's trying to keep her blood pressure under control with diet and exercise. A brisk walk in her neighborhood helps keep her heart rate up. While improvements and advancements have been made in oral contraceptives, if she had to do it all over again she says, "I wouldn't have taken the birth control pill."
To help keep her blood pressure under control, Phyllis keeps a journal, continues to monitor her blood pressure. She now takes fish oil, to monitor her cholesterol.