Contraceptives and Ovarian Cancer

I have been discouraging my wife from using oral contraceptives due to the alleged side effects that comes with it (that's what I've been told before) even if we only have one child since we got married in 2004.

But a recent study conducted by the Collaborative Group on Epidemiological Studies of Ovarian Cancer showed that women who take oral contraceptives greatly reduce their risk of developing ovarian cancer and the longer the woman takes the contraceptives, the greater the protection.

The use of oral contraceptives has long been connected with reductions in the incidence of ovarian cancer. The authors of the new study say their findings show that the Pill has already prevented 200,000 ovarian cancers and 100,000 deaths worldwide. Over the coming decades, use of the Pill will prevent some 30,000 cases of ovarian cancer each year, they contend.

"What's new here is that we have brought together all the people who have done epidemiological studies on ovarian cancer," said study co-author Dr. Valerie Beral, of Oxford University's Cancer Research UK Epidemiology Unit, in England. "This is pretty much what we know today."

"If women take the Pill, [ovarian] cancer is not their worry," Beral added.

Now, I'm having second thoughts on the issue of oral contraceptives. Is it really safe? I don't want my wife to suffer any side effects should I encourage her to take one. Or should we instead stick to our natural means of family planning?

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