Answer:
by Farid Abdel Hadi: (06/04/2004)
Dear Madam
thank you for your question. It does not directly relate to the topics of sexualhealth.com, but as it involves the use of Oral contraceptive pills, I thought I will post the answer here.?
Do OC pills have an effect on the heart? Quite a difficult question to answer in a simple yes or no. It is useful to look a little at the history of pills. When they first staretd in the 1960's they had really high doses of hormones and everyone one was prescribed "The Pill". But with the new very low dose pills, and with the precautions well known, their side effects dropped markedly. First, you should not take estrogen containing preparations if you have any of a long list of conditions. What is important to us here is high blood pressure, or if you smoke, or if you are over 35 years of age. Naturally, you do not take them if you have history of a heart disease, vascular accident, or more...
Now, the latest studies showed a minor increase in vascular embolism with pills, a little bit more than the general population, but less than that incurred with pregnancy.
Again, if you smoke, have a history of heart disease, are over the age or 35 or have high blood pressure, it is better not to take the pill.Reviewed by Sexual Health Editorial Team
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