Maintain pressure on reforms to protect NHSWomen not using safest contraceptive pill brands
A study has found many women are at greater risk of venous thrombosis because they are not using the safest brands of the contraceptive pill.
A study by experts at Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, which is published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), found women taking pills containing a progestogen called levonorgestrel, such as Microgynon, had the lowest risk of thrombosis.
But those taking contraceptives containing desogestrel, such as Mercilon or Marvelon, had the highest risk, seven times more likely to suffer venous thrombosis compared with women not on the pill.
A total of 1,524 women who had suffered a thrombosis were followed for the study and the results show that overall taking the pill increased the risk of suffering thrombosis five-fold, compared with women not on the pill.
Current advice from the NHS is that women should be on pills containing levonorgestrel, but the research suggests all types of the combined pill increase the risk, but some more than others.
The authors concluded: ‘Currently available oral contraceptives still have a major impact on thrombosis occurrence and many women do not use the safest brands with regard to risk of venous thrombosis.’
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