Low-Dose Oral Contraceptives Do Not Increase MI Risk

This large prospective study supplies reassuring data.

Adverse cardiovascular effects were first reported soon after oral contraceptives (OCs) were introduced in the 1960s. To determine whether low-dose OCs using second- and third-generation progestins increase the risk for myocardial infarction, investigators conducted a population-based, prospective cohort study in Sweden, enrolling more than 48,000 women in 1991 and following them through 2002.

Of the women enrolled, 14% were current users, 69% were past users, and 17% were never users; more than half of current users were older than 35. During follow-up, 190 cases of nonfatal MI and 24 deaths from MI occurred. After adjustment for coronary heart disease risk factors, neither past nor current users had increased risk for MI, compared with nev…

Reviewing Author

Robert W. Rebar, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardMyovant Sciences, Inc.

Editorial BoardsEndoText; Clinical OB/GYN Alert

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesAmerican Society for Reproductive Medicine (Member, Ethics Committee)

Robert W. Rebar, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardMyovant Sciences, Inc.

Editorial BoardsEndoText; Clinical OB/GYN Alert

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesAmerican Society for Reproductive Medicine (Member, Ethics Committee)