One of the largest ever studies of oral contraceptives has found that taking the pill long term can prevent cancer of the womb
Whilst the contraceptive pill is normally the subject of scaremongering headlines, today we bring you some good news.
Researchers at Oxford University, who analysed data from 45 studies involving 100,000 women, found that in the past 10 years taking the pill has prevented 200,000 cases of womb cancer in high-income countries. Furthermore, their study found that women who use the contraceptive pill regularly can reduce their risk of ovarian cancers by up to a half.
The research concluded that the longer the woman were to take the contraceptive pill for, the greater her protection would be. Experts went as far as to suggest that for every five years of oral contraceptive taken, a woman can reduce her risk of these specific cancers by up to a quarter. Better still, the protection does not stop once the woman comes off the oral contracptive and in fact the protection can last for more than 30 years after.
Whilst there have previously been concerns of the link between the contraceptive pill and both breast and cervical cancer, the new findings suggest this increased risk is “really quite small” and this risk quickly disappears once a woman stops taking the pill.
MORE GLOSS: The modern woman's guide to contraception
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