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Any type of hormonal contraceptive may increase risk of breast cancer

ox.ac.uk

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Re: Any type of hormonal contraceptive may increase risk of breast cancer

#51

Hopefully soon, doctors that prescribe birth control for things unrelated to birth control will now stop doing that as that's a reasonably bad thing to do (IMHO IANAD)

Is there some other solution for the problems it solves?

Birth control is sometimes prescribed to help with heavy period flow, which could be a symptom of a much worst issue (endometriosis). But birth control is also prescribed to help control acne, which in my humble, unprofessional opinion is not a good use, and the risks far outweigh the benefit. Weight loss is another reason it's prescribed. These sorts of off-label perscription for a hormone are not... great IMHO.

Are there other solutions to acne, and weight loss? Yes. Endometriosis is far more complicated.

Re: Any type of hormonal contraceptive may increase risk of breast cancer

#52
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Maybe it's all about context, I'm not sure +100 For everyone the circumstances and relationship dynamics are different. And it's kind of disheartening to read a well-intentioned comment, see people assuming their own completely different context and then getting slightly aggressive about it.

It's only disheartening to me because woman live in a society where men perpetually behave like we know what's best for them. What you're reading as aggression, I'm reading as a reasonable response to a perfectly plausible alternative interpretation, which is that he knows what's best for his girlfriends better than they do for themselves. So many men have this corrupt mode of thinking that there is now an entire US…

> woman live in a society where men perpetually behave like we know what's best for them.

Everyone lives in a society where everyone else behaves like they know what's best for them. Men currently happen to have more power to enact their plans, but it's about power, not about gender, and all people who seek power think that they know best.

Re: Any type of hormonal contraceptive may increase risk of breast cancer

#53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> About 13% of women develop breast cancer during their lifetime. 25% increase is then very significant, this is about additional 4% chance of getting cancer. The study didn’t measure lifetime risk, so your assertion is not correct. It measured risk of acquiring breast cancer before age 49. This is not the age when most women get breast cancer. Average age of onset for breast cancer in the US is 62.

While you are partly correct, the study just "didn't measure". It means the study does not say anything about getting cancer after 49. What it does not say is that there isn't any increase after the age women typically stop using contraceptives. In particular, since we don't know the mechanism in which contraceptives cause cancer, we can't say whether trend ends when women stop taking them or will increase their chan…

Yes, however, we have over a half century of data on hormonal contraception at this point, more than enough to measure the effect on lifetime risk.

This very large meta-study showed the increased risk is no longer significant about ten years after stopping use: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8656904/

(btw, got that link from this article about the study in the OP, which points out potential confounders: https://www.statnews.com/2023/03/21/small-rise-breast-cancer...)

Re: Any type of hormonal contraceptive may increase risk of breast cancer

#54
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

So you'd prefer we use dysphemisms that support your view of it instead.

sterilization isn't my view, it's what it is. permanent birth control could include suicide, it's ambiguous.

the only reason one would avoid what you are terming dysphemisms is if you are advocating that people do more of something and you wish to hide what it is.

Re: Any type of hormonal contraceptive may increase risk of breast cancer

#55
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meh. It's not particularly controversial so you're being overly dramatic. I didn't force anyone, we had an adult conversation about it and all my gfs were on the same page. If any one of my gfs wanted to stay on contraceptives in the first place, then great, I would still do the exact same thing to avoid getting her pregnant in case she missed a day, etc. My wife wasn't on contraceptives in the first place so it was…

> Meh. It's not particularly controversial so you're being overly dramatic. you're denying you have any unconscious motivation to "be controlling," as you again display in your response to GP's reasonable personal opinion.

I thought the overly negative response unreasonable, and I have enough experience on the Internet to know that nothing I write will change their opinion, so I don't want to extend the conversation.

I don't feel any particular need to defend my "Internet honor" and if anyone wants to interpret my post as some Handmaid's Tale order for women to submit to my demands, well that's their prerogative.

Re: Any type of hormonal contraceptive may increase risk of breast cancer

#56
post #45
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not entirely, no. Women take birth control for a number of reasons unrelated to pregnancy: https://www.webmd.com/sex/birth-control/ss/slideshow-birth-c... The “context of a relationship” part is when a couple decide to cease birth control in order to have a child together. The OP is talking about still using birth control, just different birth control that he would prefer she use over the alternatives. Ultimately tha…

>Women take birth control for a number of reasons unrelated to pregnancy Yes, but don't forget about the elephant in the room: There are a lot of women on birth control who wouldn't be if they weren't trying to avoid pregnancy. >Ultimately that should be her choice. Were you under the impression that he was physically preventing his girlfriends from taking birth control?

I'm not sure if it counts as "the elephant in the room" when that's the stated purpose of the medication.

Re: Any type of hormonal contraceptive may increase risk of breast cancer

#57

In general any type of hormonal anything is probably dangerous. Endocrine system is incredibly complex and connected in many different, mostly unknown ways. And contraceptives play with hormones that are central to what makes women women. These hormones are not just limited to regulating when eggs are released from ovaries, they take part in a lot of other processes. It is absolutely not surprising then that there wi…

I’m curious if hormonal transgender treatments will have similar long term effects.

Re: Any type of hormonal contraceptive may increase risk of breast cancer

#59

Every single girlfriend I had, I asked her to get off contraceptives because of the medical dangers and I didn't want to be responsible for any problems associated with it. Instead I took responsibility for making sure she wouldn't get pregnant. One of my girlfriends actually got mad at me because I was *too* careful about getting her pregnant, and interpreted that as me not wanting to get married to her (which since…

Wow. I'd probably break up with a guy who "asked me to get off contraceptives". If you want to be responsible about preventing pregnancy, that's fantastic. If you feel like that's any more than an input to her decision of whether to be on it, that's a pretty fundamental overreach.

I see your point but I think the parent didn't mean "ask" as in "told", it's obvious (at least to me!) that such decisions are taken by the woman only. I interpret this as, "I take the full responsibility for not making you pregnant. You can relax now and you don't need to increase the risk of getting cancer out of fear of pregnancy."

Re: Any type of hormonal contraceptive may increase risk of breast cancer

#60

After I had the kids I wanted, I got a vasectomy. It’s a painless and quick and largely reversible procedure with no side effects and offers 100% contraception. If you care about your partner and are “done,” I highly recommend it.

A few of my friends have looked into this and decided against because it is actually not as reversible as they initially thought.

What did your doctor tell you about reversibility?

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