Another Study Shows Negative Side Effects of Oral Contraceptives on Women's Health

A new study shows that OC use by teens can reduce a woman's bone density. It also notes that "[c]hanges in bone density in oral contraceptive users depends on age and hormone dose." This is especially important information for teen users of OCs.

As an article from Group Health Cooperative in Seattle noted, "A woman's risk of fractures later in life is influenced by the bone mass she gains in her teens through her 20s, and this age group has the highest use of oral contraceptives. "The teen years are when women most actively gain bone, so we thought it was important to look at that age group," says Scholes."

Seattle, WA—Birth control pills may reduce a woman's bone density, according to a study published online July 13 in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism by Group Health Research Institute (GHRI) scientists. Impacts on bone were small, depended on the woman's age and the pill's hormone dose, and did not appear until about two years of use. The study size and design allowed the researchers to focus on 14- to 18-year-old teenagers, and to look at how bone density might change when a woman stops using the pill.

For more on how bad the pill is for women, Google "negative side effects of birth control."