March 27, 2010
PARIS (AFP) - A 39-year study of women taking the contraceptive pill found that they had a have a lower risk of dying from any cause compared with women who had never taken it, researchers said.
"Oral contraception was not associated with an increased long term risk of death in the large UK cohort, indeed a net benefit was apparent," said the study published in the British Medical Journal.
Over 46,000 women were observed during the Royal College of General Practitioners' Oral Contraception Study which was carried out by researchers at Aberdeen University in Scotland.
The researchers added that the results would reassure women who took the "first generation" of oral contraceptives.
However they said the findings "might not reflect the experience of women using oral contraceptives today" due to possible differences in the more modern versions of the drug.
