File this one under The Joys of Womanhood. They've found a link between the birth control Pill and Crohn's disease. Your risk for getting the dreaded incurable gastrointestinal disease is three times higher if you're on the pill.
This is according to a study of 230,000 American Women. And did you know? There's been a rise in Crohn's disease in the past 50 years, which just happens to coincide with the emergence of the Pill. The so-called morning after pill could carry a risk as well.
Crohn's disease, in case you're not familiar, is a chronic condition of intestinal inflammation. Symptoms include diarrhea, fatigue, loss of appetite, and anemia. We're not exactly sure what causes it, but doctors suspect it's at least partly inherited. There is no cure, yet.
Something to keep in mind: Harvard researcher Hamed Khalili says Crohn's is not caused by the pill. Rather, he told the Daily Mail, "It’s a combination of oral contraceptive use among individuals with a strong genetic predisposition to Crohn’s."
So ... does that mean women with a family history of Crohn's should avoid taking the pill? Yep. That's exactly what gastroenterologist Dr. Simon Anderson told the Mail. "If you have a family history of Crohn’s, I would advise against starting on the Pill."
This is just the most recent news we've heard about potential side effects of oral contraceptives. Last week I learned that the Pill can interact with antidepressants and more or less kill your libido.
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Can't women catch a break when it comes to preventing pregnancy? Pardon me while I whip out my handy-dandy "we can fly a man to the moon" cliche, but honestly. We can laser brown eyes blue, but it's still hard to find a safe, reliable, affordable form of birth control. I do think more women should give the IUD a try, and there's also the cervical cap. But it's scary to think about how many issues are attached to the most popular form of birth control. Ever day, it seems, there's another reason to reconsider the Pill.
Does this connection between oral contraceptives and Crohn's disease worry you?
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