Oral Contraceptives May Slightly Increase Stroke Risk

Although strokes are relatively uncommon among women of childbearing age, women who take oral contraceptives run a slightly higher--but still minuscule--risk of suffering one, UC San Francisco researchers reported in Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Assn. They reached the conclusion after analyzing 16 studies conducted between 1960 and 1999 to determine a link. They found the risk of a stroke increased from one victim to two victims per 24,000 when women took the pill.

They found that the type of low-estrogen-dose oral contraceptives generally prescribed in the United States nearly doubled the risk of stroke. The risk doubled yet again with higher estrogen doses.

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Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II.