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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

#81

Post by xyzelement »

shawnz wrote: post #77
xyzelement wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like I am taking crazy pills. How does the word "ask" imply control? They can say no.

When your boss asks you to take a ticket, when a parent asks their son to clean their room, when a cop asks a citizen to identify themselves, you don't think those situations imply control? When a romantic partner asks you to change the drugs you are taking, don't you think there is some implication that their satisfaction with the relationship is contingent on it? Maybe we are getting too into the semantics here but…

When a cop "asks," the citizen doesn't get to tell her to fuck off. The control is implied by the role not by the word "ask."

This dude's girlfriends are free to tell him to fuck off (as one did) so there's no actual control.

There's a difference between "control" and "being on the same page about big deal stuff." I don't think my wife would marry me if I was a heavy drug user for example. That's not her controlling my life, it's her having a standard for herself. If we are not on the same page we just don't get married.

Presumably this dude doesn't want to date/marry someone who takes on heavy health risk when other options are available, especially when the nature of his can impact fertility and children. That's a very reasonable stance for him to take in his own life.

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

#82

Post by LorenPechtel »

yamrzou wrote: post #8

The title is misleading. It should be: Any type of hormonal contraceptive is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer.

Yeah--there's a factor here that messes up the data. Namely, that pregnancy to term is associated with a *reduction* in breast cancer, the earlier the pregnancy the bigger the effect.

This is the reason behind the "pro-life" claim that abortion causes breast cancer--no, it simply doesn't provide the protection. Never-pregnant vs had-abortion is the same risk. Hormonal contraception is more effective and will reduce the oops rate and thus would be expected to show a positive correlation with breast cancer.

(And the oops rate is also why for a young non-smoker the risk of the pill is *negative* even if the response to an oops is an immediate abortion. Carrying it to term increases the effect by at least an order of magnitude.)

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

#83

Post by gizmo686 »

ghqst wrote: post #79
jolux wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s already suspected though not proven (as far as I know) that estradiol increases breast cancer risk, but I imagine most of that is because it encourages significant breast tissue growth.

If I remember correctly this is at high dosages, so it should be much safer in a normal dosage used for hrt.

HRT as applied to gender dysphoria in transgender women absolutely causes breast tissue growth. That is one of the desired effects. Seeing as 99% of breast cancers occur in women, and HRT causes the patient to have very female like breasts, it would be surprising if the patient did not see an increased risk of breast cancer compared to not taking HRT. Weather or not their risk is higher than the baseline risk for women is less obvious.

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

#84

Post by HDMI_Cable »

jawns wrote: post #75
fnordpiglet wrote: post #7

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.

Not quite 100%. > The early failure rate of vasectomy (presence of motile sperm in the ejaculate at 3–6 months post-vasectomy) is in the range of 0.3–9% and the late failure rate is in the range of 0.04–0.08%. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5110415/ 8 out of 10,000 men is still a very low failure rate, although keep in mind that typically failure rates for contraceptives/sterilization are per annum. So…

To be fair, that's still a better 30-year failure rate than most contraceptives:

Typical hormonal IUD annual failure rate = .1% [1].

.1% * 30 years = 3%.

Considering that one would have to get the hormonal IUD replaced (painful!!) every 3-8 years [1], while vasectomies only require check-ups two times after the procedure (not painful) after 1-2 months, and at one's discretion afterwards, that's a way better value proposition.

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

#85

Post by yamrzou »

LorenPechtel wrote: post #82
yamrzou wrote: post #8

The title is misleading. It should be: Any type of hormonal contraceptive is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer.

Yeah--there's a factor here that messes up the data. Namely, that pregnancy to term is associated with a *reduction* in breast cancer, the earlier the pregnancy the bigger the effect. This is the reason behind the "pro-life" claim that abortion causes breast cancer--no, it simply doesn't provide the protection. Never-pregnant vs had-abortion is the same risk. Hormonal contraception is more effective and will reduce t…

I think that factor is taken into account here:

> These calculations were then adjusted to take into account established risk factors such as body mass index (BMI), number of recorded births, and the time since a woman’s last birth.

Is it the same as yours?

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

#86

Post by emodendroket »

justinator wrote: post #80
emodendroket wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also is used to help with irregularities associated with periods. Seems like sidestepping the issue to say there are other acne remedies.

>Seems like sidestepping the issue to say there are other acne remedies. My opinion is that estrogen hormone therapy is not the best course of action for acne and is prescribed far too much. I literally do not know what your beef is with my opinion, since you do not state yours, you just write in weird, obtuse statements, which is common on hn in, I would assume, an attempt to look smart on a subject, in which you ar…

Why didn't you say that instead of "things unrelated to birth control"? It seems like you are walking back from your original position and sticking to the easiest subset of it to defend. My position is that there are legitimate uses for birth control pills besides contraception and there's not a simple replacement for all of them.

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

#87

Post by gameman144 »

shawnz wrote: post #77
xyzelement wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like I am taking crazy pills. How does the word "ask" imply control? They can say no.

When your boss asks you to take a ticket, when a parent asks their son to clean their room, when a cop asks a citizen to identify themselves, you don't think those situations imply control? When a romantic partner asks you to change the drugs you are taking, don't you think there is some implication that their satisfaction with the relationship is contingent on it? Maybe we are getting too into the semantics here but…

A boss, a parent, and a cop have authority over the person they're asking. A romantic partner does not.

Likewise, my friend asking me to stop smoking because they care about my health is different than my boss saying to stop smoking or I'm fired.

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

#88

Post by fnordpiglet »

jawns wrote: post #75
fnordpiglet wrote: post #7

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.

Not quite 100%. > The early failure rate of vasectomy (presence of motile sperm in the ejaculate at 3–6 months post-vasectomy) is in the range of 0.3–9% and the late failure rate is in the range of 0.04–0.08%. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5110415/ 8 out of 10,000 men is still a very low failure rate, although keep in mind that typically failure rates for contraceptives/sterilization are per annum. So…

Generally the control for this is 3 months after the procedure you get a fertility test and a secondary procedure if needed.

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

#89

Post by fnordpiglet »

gnicholas wrote: post #60
fnordpiglet wrote: post #7

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?

Yes. Upshot was usually reversible but with reduced fertility, but even when not IVF works because machinery still works and you can clear some sperm even if not successful. So, yes, I waited until I was “done,” and that’s probably the right way to treat it. But even so you could still have kids even in the worst case with some science assist.

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

#90

Post by gameman144 »

projectazorian wrote: post #63
throwntoday wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does it upset you that GP would be concerned for his GF's health? I also ask my GF's not to take oral contraceptives because of guilt that they're doing damage to their body for me. None have ever responded negatively, and at the end of the day it was a request. All agreed they did not feel great when taking the pills, but continued because of pressure by society/previous partners.

Because it’s likely that you and GP do not understand the risks as well as you think you do. You are likely not a MD, and even if you were, you wouldn’t be the expert on your partner’s body, they are. The lack of humility is the issue. Now if your partner brings the topic up to you and mentions health issues they’re experiencing then sure, it’s fine to offer your view, but that’s not how it sounds to us reading.

Why are you assuming that these things didn't come up though? In a committed relationship, I'd be really surprised if your partner didn't share their perspective during this conversation.

Also, people don't need perfect information to have good intentions that can help. My friend might point out that I should cut back on my swordfish intake because it's high in mercury. They don't know my body as well as I do, and they're not an MD, but this seems like a totally fine topic to bring up.

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