The Pill and HRT Reduce Risk of Cerebral Aneurysms?

A controversial new study published in the Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery suggests that those women who take birth control pills or undergo hormone replacement therapy are at a lower risk of developing cerebral aneurysms late in their lives. The study was conducted by Rush University Medical Center’s Dr Michael Chen who questioned 60 patients of brain aneurysms about their habits of using either birth control pills or whether they had undergone hormone replacement therapy. He then compared the answers with those of more than 4,600 women in the United States and found that those who suffered from brain aneurysms were less likely to have taken birth control pills.

There have been a number of previous studies that have linked birth control pills with the risk of brain aneurysms though women who are childless or start menstruating early are at a greater risk of suffering from the disease.

The director of cerebrovascular research at the Cushing Neuroscience Institutes, Dr David Langer said that while the study has arrived at an interesting conclusion, more research is needed to check whether birth control pills really affect the possibility of suffering from brain aneurysms.

“Whenever studies like this are published one must be cautious in drawing broad conclusions, but the results do support more research in this area”, he said.




Source-Medindia