The contraceptive pill may also be recommended for women over the age of 40

9 Jul 2020

Researchers at the University of Granada (UGR) have shown that using hormonal contraceptives like the pill should also be recommended in women over 40 years of age, as their risk-benefit so far used to be tested in children under 35 years.

The authors of this paper, whose results published in the journal “Maturitas”, point out that this is the most complete review carried out to date on all the scientific studies that, worldwide, have incorporated women over 40 years on the use of this type of contraceptives.

“In contraceptive matters (specifically, regarding hormonal contraceptives), until recently, most of the available scientific evidence came from studies of women under 35 years of age with classic hormonal contraceptives,” explained Nicolás Mendoza Ladrón de Guevara, of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the UGR.

The lack of data in women over 40 years of age was due to age being a factor that, by itself, increases the risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, which had limited the use of these methods to young women.

In the now published analysis they have seen that in the new contraceptive preparations, which include natural hormones, the risks have been minimized in the users of any age, even in the majors of 40 years that are healthy at the beginning of its taking.

Similarly, the same benefits observed in young women are also observed in older women, with the advantage that some gynecological processes that appear at this age – such as alterations in the ovarian cycle or heavy menstrual bleeding – are also improved with its use.

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