Birth control pills, cancer and the fear of hormones-what is true?

What has happened?

In a controversial video on Tiktok, which has received almost 200,000 views and hundreds of comments, the profile Celina Blanche claims that birth control pills (similar to smoking) lead to cancer. She also claims that midwives try to hide the connection to cancer.

What has the video led to?

Many followers criticize Blanche’s claims, others thank her for raising the issue of cancer. Following criticism from midwives and doctors, Celina Blanche in new videos on Tiktok has partly taken back her statements and apologized for using the wording « leads to cancer », and that she should instead have said that « pill causes cancer ».

What about the cancer risk then?

If you ask experts, you get the answer that birth control pills rather reduce the risk of getting cancer. For example, the contraceptive leads to a sharply lower risk of ovarian cancer and uterus cancer. Studies show that the protective effect seems to remain for decades after the pill has stopped taking the pills.

However, it is true that there is a small increased risk of breast cancer, but the risk disappears when you cease with the contraceptive. There is a similar link between hormone spiral and breast cancer.

Here, however, it is important to keep several thoughts in your head at the same time. The risk of breast cancer, which is thus small, should be weighed against the benefit of birth control pills, which provide good protection against pregnancy, ovarian and uterine cancer and possibly even cancer in the large intestine. They can also reduce abundant bleeding and menstrual pain.

How can birth control pills and smoking be mentioned in the same context?

Both birth control pills and smoking are included in the World Health Organization WHO’s list of carcinogens. Also included in the long list are alcoholic beverages, processed meat, asbestos and UV radiation. Thus, it is largely mentioned everything we know has the ability to cause cancer, which is of course important to know. But that does not mean that what is always listed leads to cancer. If that were, healthcare professionals would hardly print birth control pills to their patients.

Why should you care about what is said on Tiktok?

The pill has lost ground among young women. An explanation can be fear of hormones. Perhaps many young women feel that they are not listened to in health care. Instead, they retrieve their information from social media, such as Tiktok, where unfortunately there are a lot of errors and myths spread. One such myth is precisely that for some unfathomable reason, healthcare professionals want to hide the link between cancer and hormonal contraceptives. It would be sad if women make important decisions about their health based on myths and falsehoods.

Read more:
So can we protect ourselves against unwanted pregnancy in the future