Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008
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Topic of the week: How to keep children from obsessing over their appearance

By Mara Levy Published: 2007-12-10 19:54
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Take the Pill, Avoid Cancer? Take the Pill, Avoid Cancer?

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By Marene Gustin
Published: Thursday, January 31, 2008 - 02:31

Women now have an extra incentive to start the birth control pill: A new study published in The Lancet reports that it can significantly cut a woman’s risk of developing ovarian cancer.

“Not only does the Pill prevent pregnancy, but in the long term, you actually get less cancer as well,” Valerie Beral, the study's lead author and director of the Cancer Research UK Epidemiology Unit at Oxford University, told The Associated Press. “It's a nice bonus.”

According to the study, paid for by Cancer Research UK and Britain's Medical Research Council, women taking the Pill for 15 years cut their chances of developing ovarian cancer in half. And the protection continued after they stopped taking the Pill, although effects did decrease with time. The researchers combined 45 worldwide studies of some 23,000 women and found that the average incidence of ovarian cancer for women without the Pill was 12 in 1,000, but that it dropped to 8 in 1,000 for those who were on the Pill for several years.

The National Cancer Institute reported 22,430 new cases of ovarian cancer—and 15,280 deaths—for 2007, so the study’s finding offers a glimmer of hope. Still, it should go without saying that what works for some women may not work for all, and women should consult with their doctors before getting on the Pill.