Quoted from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-21/birth-control-pills-with-drospirenone-raise-clot-risk-in-study.html
Birth-Control Pills With Drospirenone Raise Clot Risk in Study
By Kristen Hallam - Apr 21, 2011 6:29 PM ET
Women who use birth-control pills made with the hormone drospirenone, such as Bayer AG
(BAYN)’s Yasmin, are three times more likely to develop blood clots than those who take an older oral contraceptive, a study found.
The overall risk of developing a clot in the lungs or legs was still low for women using drospirenone, according to the study published today in the British Medical Journal. The research examined U.K. database reports on almost 300 women.
The results support earlier findings from European studies that drospirenone appears to have a higher risk of clots compared with the older levonorgestrel, according to the U.S. and New Zealand researchers. They also contradict two industry- funded studies that found the hormones had a similar clot risk, said the researchers, led by Susan Jick, a professor of epidemiology at the Boston University School of Medicine.
“Prescribing lower-risk levonorgestrel preparations as the first-line choice in women wishing to take an oral contraceptive would seem prudent,” said the researchers in the study. “Perhaps now is the time for a systematic review on this topic.”
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