Newer Birth Control Pills also Present Blood-Clot Risk

A new research study reports that newer birth control pills raise the risk of a blood clot as much as or more than older formulations.

The study found that women taking some of the newer formulas had about four times the risk of a blood clot—venous thromboembolism or VTE—as a woman not taking any birth control pill, NBC News reports. The researchers say the overall clot risk is still low, about 14 cases in every 10,000 women.The study was published in the BMJ, the online journal of the British Medical Association. The researchers explain that this risk is lower than the blood-clot risk in pregnancy. Pregnant women have 10 times the risk of a blood clot. Estrogen—contained in most birth control pills—makes the blood more likely to clot, according to Dr. Barbara Levy, vice president for health policy for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). In lay terms, estrogen “makes the blood a little thicker,” Levy told NBC News. “Pregnancy is a high estrogen state that really increases the risk of blood clots.”

According to NBC News, doctors have known for some time now that some of the newer contraceptives carry a higher risk of blood clots than older ones do. Some of the newer formulations use a different type of the hormone progesterone or progestin. “Different progestins have different effects,” said Levy. Levy was not involved in the study.

The research group—Yana Vinogradova of Britain’s University of Nottingham and colleagues— looked at data from 10,000 women across Britain. About half of the women had been diagnosed with a blood clot. This was an observational study based on two large primary care databases. Women exposed to drospirenone, gestodene, cyproterone, and desogestrel within the last 28 days had around a four times increased risk of VTE, according to the researchers. These are the progestins found in such newer brands as Yaz, Yasmin and Marvelon. “Women exposed to levonorgestrel, norethisterone, and norgestimate had about two and a half times increase in VTE risk compared with women not exposed in the past year,” the team said. These are the progestins found in older pills, NBC News reports.

But, Levy cautioned, “The way that this study was done was not perfect and the conclusion may or may not be correct.” She said the biggest risk for blood clots is in the first six months a woman takes birth control pills and a woman now starting on the Pill is more likely to get one of the newer types, according to NBC News.

ACOG says doctors should consider a woman’s risk of blood clots before prescribing any type of birth control pill. Risk factors include age (being over 35), smoking, lupus, inflammatory bowel disease, and major surgery that requires lengthy recovery time in bed. Many gynecologists say that intrauterine devices (IUDs) can be safer and more effective for many women than other forms of contraception.

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