Hormonal contraceptives do not get fat – this is a medical fact
The reason for excess weight is not in pillsEkaterina Pichugina, MK
Many women refuse to use oral contraceptives only because they are afraid of getting fat. However, as scientists have found out, such fears are completely in vain
Even if a woman who protects herself with hormonal means is gaining weight, the reason is not in pills. Ladies get fat most often either because of smoking, or because of the aging of the body.
Ingela Lindh, a Swedish researcher from the University of Gotenberg, has been conducting research for several years in order to scientifically establish whether taking hormonal contraceptives affects a woman's weight. The group of subjects included 1749 women born in 1962, 1972 and 1982. Each of the ladies was interviewed for contraception, pregnancies, weight and smoking habits every 5 years between the ages of 19 and 44. Surveys have shown that at the age of 19, 74% of women have already used contraception, by the age of 44, this figure increased to 98%. The most common method under the age of 29 is hormonal contraceptives. At a later age, the number of women choosing spirals increases.
"Women who took pills and were under control since adolescence did not gain weight compared to their peers who did not take contraceptives at all," says Ingela Lindh in her research paper "Factors influencing the choice of contraceptive methods." Professor Lindh proved that, on average, the body weight of women from her group increased by 0.45 kg annually, but the reason for such an increase was not hormonal contraceptives. Much more significant factors in this sense were aging and smoking, as well as the social status of the women studied. The conclusion of the Swedish researcher: only 0.072 kg per year a woman acquires due to the use of hormonal drugs.
Ingela Lindh hopes that the results of her research will allow to expand the use of combined hormonal contraceptives and thereby reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies.
Russian experts call the work of the Swedish colleague extremely important.
– Studies that have shown the safety of hormonal contraception have been known before, but for the first time the absence of the effect of hormonal contraceptives has been proven on such an extensive database, – says Associate professor of the Department of Reproductive Medicine and Surgery of the Moscow State Medical University, expert of the program "There are no Surprises!" Tatiana Kaznacheeva. – Hormonal contraceptives of the XXI century are much more advanced and safer than their predecessors, which is achieved by changing the chemical composition from generation to generation and by reducing the dose of hormones. The true reasons for the increase in body weight are irrational nutrition and lack of physical activity.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru23.09.2011