Worried About the Side Effects of the Pill? You Should Be.

The use of oral contraceptives invites a host of side effects, but perhaps breast cancer was not one of the highlighted risks mentioned by your doctor. Scientists have connected the use of birth control pills to a higher risk for breast cancer for many years. An association between estrogen and increased risk of breast cancer has led to a continuing debate about the role birth control pills play in developing breast cancer. Research suggests that some cancers depend on naturally occurring sex hormones for their development and growth, so logic would say that more hormones are not a good idea. The NCI openly acknowledges the hormonal connection between birth control pills and HRT and cancer. However, the real question is why are they not talking about the fact that both oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy are known to be carcinogenic, and are known to cause cancer in humans?

On Sunday, I had the pleasure of meeting with Kathleen Ruddy, breast cancer surgeon and Founder of the Breast Health & Healing Foundation. Kathleen shared with me her knowledge regarding the connection between BCP’s and cancer.

The following is a summary of our discussion on this topic:

In 2005, after reviewing the world’s literature on oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy, the IARC, a branch of the WHO, declared both to be Group I Carcinogens, known to cause cancer in humans. Specifically, birth control pills cause breast cancer, especially when they are used prior to a woman’s first full-term pregnancy (as they most often are) – in which case, they increase the risk of premenopausal breast cancer by more than 40%. Every day, an estimated 100 million women use the pill, excreting (via urine) into our shared environment 30% that is still biologically active. This is equivalent to just dumping 30 millions pills into the water supply every day. Therefore, the users of the pills are at increased risk from carcinogens, but so are the rest of us.

To read a summary of the IARC report, with reference to the full 200+ page document, please go to this link: http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/02/the_pill_and_breast_cancer.html

Read more:
http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2005/pr167.html

Elyn Jacobs
elyn@elynjacobs.com
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The Breast Health and Healing Foundation is the only non-profit organization whose specific mission is to discover the causes of breast cancer.
Elyn Jacobs is President of Elyn Jacobs Consulting, Inc. and a breast cancer survivor. She helps women diagnosed with cancer to navigate the process of treatment and care, and she educates about how to prevent recurrence and new cancers. She is passionate about helping others get past their cancer and into a cancer-free life.