In areas where medical services are limited, blood pressure checks for OC users may be impractical. In any case, the benefit of screening potential combined OC users for high blood pressure and withholding OCs from women with high blood pressure would not be substantial if hypertension itself cannot be treated. In particular, screening women under age 35 for high blood pressure would not prevent an appreciable number of cardiovascular disease cases or deaths attributable to OC use. From a public health perspective, the impact of cardiovascular disease attributable to OC use is slight, particularly since most OC users are young and do not have other risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The analysis for WHO points out that the additional number of cardiovascular disease cases and deaths among OC users depends greatly on age.
Thromboembolism is an obstruction of a blood vessel by a blood clot.
These clots sometimes circulate to the lungs, where they become potentially fatal pulmonary embolisms. Responding to the publicity, many women switched to other OCs or stopped taking pills altogether. By comparison, recent studies estimate that the annual number of VTE cases attributable to second-generation OCs ranges from about 6.5 cases per 100,000 women per year at ages 20 to 24 to 12 cases per 100,000 per year at ages 40 to 44. The risk of death from VTE is slight. Increased blood pressure and hypertension.