Does Taking Birth Control Pills Increase My Risk of Developing Breast Cancer?
Maybe. Studies that have examined the use of oral contraceptives as a risk factor for breast cancer have produced conflicting results. Some researchers think this might be due to the fact that the level of hormones in birth control pills has changed since they were first studied. Early birth control pills contained much higher levels of hormones than today’s low-dose pills. Scandinavian researchers have noted an increase in breast cancer in a group of women that were currently taking or had recently taken birth control pills. Longer use of the pill seemed to increase the risk. Similar research found that 10 years or more after women stopped using birth control pills, their breast cancer risk returned to the same level as if they had never used birth control pills. However, another reputable study by Women’s Contraceptive and Reproductive Experience (Women’s CARE) done between 1994 and 1998 showed there was no increased risk of breast cancer in current or former users of birth control p
