Quoted from http://health.msn.com/womens-health/blood-clot-risk-linked-to-some-non-pill-contraceptives
Blood Clot Risk Linked to Some Non-Pill Contraceptives
Women using hormone-releasing skin patches, implants, vaginal rings were more likely to develop clots, study finds
By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) -- Some women using hormonal contraceptives other than birth control pills may have an increased risk for serious blood clots, Danish researchers report.
These alternate hormone-releasing birth control methods include skin patches, implants and vaginal rings. To reduce the risk, women who use these should consider switching to the pill, the researchers said.
Deep vein thrombosis is a kind of clot that typically originates in the legs and can travel to the lungs, where it becomes an often deadly pulmonary embolism. Both types of clots combined are called venous thrombosis, according to the study. Symptoms include leg pain, chest pain or sudden shortness of breath.
"The transdermal patch and vaginal ring confer at least a sixfold increased risk of venous thrombosis as combined pills with desogestrel or drospirenone, a risk which is about twice the risk among women using second-generation pills with levonorgestrel," said lead researcher Dr. Ojvind Lidegaard, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Copenhagen.
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