Link Between Birth Control and MS?

Last updated on: March 8, 2015 at 7:17 pm by Pia de Solenni

Link Between Birth Control and MS? 2015-03-08T19:17:58-07:00 Pia de Solenni

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A new study indicates that there may be a link between some forms of oral contraceptives and multiple sclerosis.

As a Catholic, I see a lot of reasons as to why the Catholic teaching on birth control makes sense. Others have done a fine job explaining those reasons, most notably Prof. Janet Smith . Patrick Coffin also does a great job in his book Sex Au Naturel. And of course, there’s Simcha Fisher. There are many others, but these are a few to address the basic question of Church teaching.

However, as a woman, I am particularly offended at what birth control means for women.

It’s primarily their responsibility. Judging from the anecdotal evidence of women who carry condoms with them, it appears that men can’t even be expected to provide their own contraception.
The health risks for women are minimized or all together left out of the conversation. Have you ever looked at the insert that comes with the pill? That alone suggests that it isn’t “perfectly safe” for women. In conversations with doctors or nurses, as I defend my decision to not use it, I have yet to encounter one who would address the health concerns delineated in the package itself.

There’s been talk and research suggesting a link between oral contraceptives and breast cancer. In 2005, the World Health Organization labeled some forms of hormonal birth control as a Class I carcinogen. Then they changed the information on their website. Dr. Gerard Nadal did some sleuthing and you can read about it here.

But now we have a study linking some forms of the pill (a form of hormonal birth control) to MS, a terribly debilitating disease.

From the article reporting on the study:

Among some 4,300 women in Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California system from 2008 to 2011, those whose most recent oral contraceptive contained norethindrone had a 57% higher risk of definite MS or clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) (odds ratio 1.57, 95% CI 1.16-2.12) compared with plan members who had no record of oral contraceptive use, said Annette Langer-Gould, MD, PhD, of Kaiser’s Southern California Los Angeles Medical Center.

Oral contraceptive users whose most recent product contained levonorgestrel showed a similar increase in risk, with an odds ratio of 1.75 (95% CI 1.29-2.37), Langer-Gould said during a poster session here at theEuropean Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis annual meeting, held jointly this year with its North American counterpart.

….The findings shed new light on a previous Kaiser study that had found a 35% increase in MS risk with oral contraceptives generally, Langer-Gould said.[Emphasis mine.]

The article concludes:

Langer-Gould acknowledged that the associations found in the study could be spurious. It was a retrospective analysis of administrative records, and the available data did not cover all potential confounders, such as diet, vitamin D status, or lifestyle factors other than smoking.

Could be spurious. Might also be horribly accurate.

Look, I don’t agree with the use of contraception; but I also don’t think someone’s health should be compromised by using it.

Maybe print out the article and share it with your health care provider. The word needs to get out.

Previous Post

September 19, 2014

Newsflash: Man Puts Family Before His Career. Man Is Happy.

Next Post

September 23, 2014 Padre Pio. Just A Simple Priest.

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Articles Thinking Out Loud Uncategorized

Select a Month August 2016 July 2016 May 2016 March 2016 February 2016 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 September 2013 August 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 August 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 July 2007 October 1008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, 'The Lord gives and the Lord takes away'?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Solomon Moses Job David