Oral contraceptives are known to increase the risk of heart problems for women who smoke. New research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill suggests that not all birth control pills are created equal. The findings were published in the January issue of the medical journal Obstetrics and Gynecology . While 22 million U.S. women continue to smoke, those who take oral contraceptives, or birth control pills, run a higher risk of premature death than women who are on the pill but do not smoke. The risks are higher for some women than for others.
Androgens are steroids, such as testosterone.
Young, healthy female smokers and nonsmokers taking two different types of oral contraceptives were studied while at rest and during mental and physical stress. Among smokers, researchers found that their hearts were pumping less blood, yet there was more tension in the blood vessels resisting blood flow. While these findings were not surprising considering the harmful effects of smoking on the heart, women taking the older version of oral contraceptives had the highest blood pressures and blood vessel tension. For some women, the newer contraceptives may impart less risk, but that's a choice that ultimately needs to be made between a woman and her doctor. Straneva cautions that even the newer third-generation oral contraceptives might not be appropriate for all women.