Any medicine can cause side effects, and oral birth control is no different. If you’re considering hormonal contraceptives, such as the pill, you should know the possible risks they pose to heart health.
Medicines containing estrogen, such as combined oral contraceptives, can increase your:
- Blood pressure
- Risk of embolism
- Risk of vein thrombosis
Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, making it crucial to know your heart health before taking any medication, including oral contraception.
Complete Annual OB-GYN Visits
Regular screenings are more than a formality; they’re important to ensure that your body — including your heart — stays healthy. Your gynecologist checks your cardiovascular health at every annual well woman check-up because of the correlation between oral contraceptives and heart health.
Not everyone is a match for every type of birth control. To determine if you’re a good candidate for oral contraception, your gynecologist will complete a thorough exam, inquiring about three areas of information:
- Family history
- Medical history
- Personal history
Family History Risk Factors
Your doctor will want to know if members of your family, such as parents or grandparents, had heart problems. If you’re under 40 and don’t have a family history of heart disease, you will likely not need a screening for cholesterol levels. If heart problems run in your family, your doctor may ask for a lipid panel to gain a more complete picture of your health.
Medical History Risk Factors
Cardiovascular health is measured by:- Blood pressure
- Vital signs
- Pulse
- Height and weight
Personal History Risk Factors
Your gynecologist or primary care physician will ask about your personal history. The biggest risk factors that increase your risk are:
- Age.
- Smoking.
- Body weight. The more you weigh, the greater your risk. If your weight falls in the obesity range, this can impact which birth control options your doctor suggests.
- Lifestyle. If you do not exercise regularly or if you experience shortness of breath after walking one block, that affects which medication will be recommended.
If there are no risk factors, you are likely a candidate for whichever birth control — hormonal or non-hormonal — you prefer.
Know Your Birth Control Options
The pill contains both estrogen and progesterone, and is safest for people who have no heart risks. However, women who have several risk factors may prefer contraceptives that contain progesterone and no estrogen, including:
- The mini pill
- A birth control shot
- A manually inserted vaginal ring
Other birth control options, such as the copper IUD, spermicides and condoms, contain no hormones at all.
Follow-Up Visits Matter
If you decide to use a birth control containing estrogen, it’s important to schedule a follow-up gynecological visit three to six months later. This allows enough time to see if the medication is impacting your blood pressure or adversely affecting your health in any way.
Heart Surveillance
The best medicine is prevention. For heart health, this includes regular exercise, blood-pressure checks and weight monitoring. If you take oral birth control, know that this can cause weight gain, and in turn, that weight gain could increase risks to your cardiovascular health.
Consider, too, that throughout your life, your birth control needs will likely change. It’s common for women to rely on a different medicine at each stage of life. These are all reasons that your annual well woman visit is helpful in monitoring your long-term health.
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