Oral Contraceptives, a Group 1 Carcinogen
Are you or your wife or your daughter taking oral contraceptives?
Did you know that in 1987, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the World Health Organization’s specialised cancer research agency, classified combined oral contraceptives as Group 1 carcinogens.
Group 1 means sufficient evidence that something can cause cancer in humans. The original evaluation was based on evidence concerning liver tumours.
In 1999, IARC published a further evaluation of hormonal contraception, retaining the Group 1 classification. Another expert evaluation took place in 2005, with the findings published in 2007, considering the developing evidence concerning other cancers.
Later evaluations developed the evidence linking the combination oral contraceptive to breast and cervical cancer.
40 years have gone by since the original evaluation yet how many women are told?
How many young girls being advised to begin oral contraception for reasons such as management of irregular periods have ever been told of this information in a consultation?
The risk of cancer is only part of the clinical picture.
The combined oral contraceptive pill alters clotting proteins, can increase blood pressure and changes the proteins carrying cortisol and thyroid hormones. Some women experience changes in mood and sexual desire.
It can also alter circulating concentrations of certain B vitamins, zinc, magnesium and copper. Oestrogen influences fatty-acid metabolism, including pathways involving DHA and arachidonic acid, fats involved in cell membranes and inflammatory signalling.
The ovaries. Liver. Brain. Circulation. Nutrient metabolism. All connected.
Now imagine a girl prescribed the pill for acne, painful periods or irregular cycles.
Was anyone curious about why?
Her food and nutritional status, blood sugar regulation, sleep and circadian rhythms, stress, gut health, environmental exposures?
The relationships between them? Or was the prescription where the investigation ended?
Her skin clears. Her bleeding becomes predictable. But a withdrawal bleed isn’t proof that she’s ovulating or that her underlying cycle is healthy.
Years later she stops. The acne returns. Her periods are irregular or don’t return when expected. Perhaps she’s struggling with low mood or fatigue. Perhaps she wants a baby and discovers she’s not ovulating regularly.
What was happening in her body all those years? And how would she know if nobody looked before prescribing?
We’ve made suppressing ovulation ordinary. Why haven’t we made understanding it ordinary too?
If you think more women and parents deserve this conversation, please share it.
Credit Emma Louise Pauline, Naturopathic Nutritionist for raising this important conversation
Here is the link to the original 1987 IARC evaluation:
