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Experts Say Gaining Weight on the Pill Is a Myth
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Many young women falsely believe that taking oral contraceptives will cause them to gain weight, and as a result, some may rely on less effective birth control methods, two birth control experts said here on Tuesday.
"I hear this from young women all the time," said Dr. Carolyn L. Westhoff of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York, who spoke at a media briefing.
"I can not tell you how many young women are afraid to take the Pill because its going to make them fat, and in fact, end up with an unintended pregnancy or a crisis pregnancy instead," she added.
Oral contraceptives, or "the Pill," celebrated 40 years of use in 2000 and have become the primary method of birth control in many countries. This method is considered to be one of the safest medications available, according to the panel of experts speaking at the event sponsored by The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit health research group based in Menlo, Park, California.
Dr. Laura Castleman, an ob/gyn in private practice in Troy, Michigan, told the group that she recently had to set the record straight with a 26-year-old woman who was in her office for a routine check-up.
The woman opted to use condoms because she believed oral contraceptives would lead to a weight gain. Male latex condoms are responsible for 14% of unintended pregnancies during the first year of use compared with 5% for oral contraceptives. However, when the methods are used consistently and correctly, the numbers drop to 3% for male latex condoms and 0.1% for oral contraceptives, according to the Kaiser Foundation.
"I hear all the time 'My mother said I'll get fat,' or that 'My mom said when she took it she got fat.' It's very hard to argue with mom," Castleman said.
"It has been more studied than any other drug in the history of drugs--and we still have many questions--but this is clear...weight gain is caused by eating too much and not exercising and that's it," she said.
But, according to Westhoff, there may be a reason for a woman's belief that she might indeed gain weight on the Pill.
Back in the 1960s, when oral contraceptives first came out and the amount of hormones were much higher than in today's versions, some women did experience breast enlargement or bloating, Westhoff explained.
"I don't think that women were acquiring fat or adipose tissue, but I do think there was breast tenderness, breast swelling, and sometimes some water retention with the very old high-dose pills," said Westhoff. "This could have fueled (the weight gain) impression and people would oversimplify that by saying that the Pill will make them fat."
Oral contraceptives use either a combination of estrogen and progestin, or progestin alone. The hormones prevent an egg from being released from the ovary as well as thin the uterine lining, which deters pregnancy. There are more than 50 oral contraceptive products available today, members of the panel noted.
By Keith Mulvihill
Experts Say Gaining Weight on the Pill Is a Myth
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Many young women falsely believe that taking oral contraceptives will cause them to gain weight, and as a result, some may rely on less effective birth control methods, two birth control experts said here on Tuesday.
"I hear this from young women all the time," said Dr. Carolyn L. Westhoff of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York, who spoke at a media briefing.
"I can not tell you how many young women are afraid to take the Pill because its going to make them fat, and in fact, end up with an unintended pregnancy or a crisis pregnancy instead," she added.
Oral contraceptives, or "the Pill," celebrated 40 years of use in 2000 and have become the primary method of birth control in many countries. This method is considered to be one of the safest medications available, according to the panel of experts speaking at the event sponsored by The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit health research group based in Menlo, Park, California.
Dr. Laura Castleman, an ob/gyn in private practice in Troy, Michigan, told the group that she recently had to set the record straight with a 26-year-old woman who was in her office for a routine check-up.
The woman opted to use condoms because she believed oral contraceptives would lead to a weight gain. Male latex condoms are responsible for 14% of unintended pregnancies during the first year of use compared with 5% for oral contraceptives. However, when the methods are used consistently and correctly, the numbers drop to 3% for male latex condoms and 0.1% for oral contraceptives, according to the Kaiser Foundation.
"I hear all the time 'My mother said I'll get fat,' or that 'My mom said when she took it she got fat.' It's very hard to argue with mom," Castleman said.
"It has been more studied than any other drug in the history of drugs--and we still have many questions--but this is clear...weight gain is caused by eating too much and not exercising and that's it," she said.
But, according to Westhoff, there may be a reason for a woman's belief that she might indeed gain weight on the Pill.
Back in the 1960s, when oral contraceptives first came out and the amount of hormones were much higher than in today's versions, some women did experience breast enlargement or bloating, Westhoff explained.
"I don't think that women were acquiring fat or adipose tissue, but I do think there was breast tenderness, breast swelling, and sometimes some water retention with the very old high-dose pills," said Westhoff. "This could have fueled (the weight gain) impression and people would oversimplify that by saying that the Pill will make them fat."
Oral contraceptives use either a combination of estrogen and progestin, or progestin alone. The hormones prevent an egg from being released from the ovary as well as thin the uterine lining, which deters pregnancy. There are more than 50 oral contraceptive products available today, members of the panel noted.
By Keith Mulvihill
