A 40 year study that observed more than 46,0000 women discovered that women who took the pill generally lived longer than those who didn’t.
The study showed that, on average, the women who took the pill did so for approximately 4 years. At the conclusion of the experiment researchers discovered that the pill can cut woman’s risk of dying from bowel cancer by 38 percent and from any other diseases by about 12 percent.
Previous studies have found the pill does not raise the risk of dying. It also may protect against ovarian and endometrial cancer, but slightly increase the chances of breast and cervical cancer. It may also be that women on the pill are somehow healthier than those that aren’t. (1)
However, because the study observed women who were on the pill and not those who weren’t, researchers could conclude the difference between the two groups and contributing factors.
Richard Anderson, a gynecologist at the University of Edinburgh stated that “in the longer term, the health benefits of the contraceptive pill outweigh any risks.”
