a “very low” risk with contraceptive micropills

In France, 92% of women aged 15 to 49 who do not want to become pregnant use a means of contraception, according to the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm). Even today, the pill remains the most used method.

A very low risk from 5 years of use

Yet, “the 2012-2013 controversy over new generation pills led to disaffection with oral contraceptionunderlines the National Institute of Demographic Studies (Ined). The controversy over the risks of venous thrombosis linked to 3rd and 4th generation pills has accelerated the unprecedented decline in the use of the pill observed since the early 2000s..

A new study, published by Epi-Pharea scientific interest group formed by the ANSM and the National Health Insurance Fund (Cnam), could increase this distrust. The work, relayed by The Worldindicate that taking contraceptive pills containing désogestrel 75 μg over a long period is linked to a risk of meningioma for women over 45 years old. However, this risk is considered “very low”, “from five years of use and [qui] increases with duration, it is multiplied by two beyond seven years of exposure”.

To reach this conclusion, scientists studied the data of 8,391 patients suffering from meningioma and operated for this reason and compared them to those of 83,910 other women who did not have this pathology. All were taking a pill containing desogestrel 75 μg.

One case of meningioma for 17,000 women exposed for more than 5 years

As a result, there is a very small increase in the risk of intracranial meningioma in women over 45 years old. In detail, the scientists note:

• One case of meningioma operated on for 67,000 women regardless of the duration of exposure.
• No risk of meningioma if the duration of use is less than one year, unless the user has taken other risky progestins in her life.
• 1 case of meningioma operated on for 17,000 women exposed for more than 5 years

Several types of micropills containing desogestrel are available on the market, such as Cerazette, Optimizette, Elfasette and Antigone. Nevertheless, “the number of cases of meningiomas attributable to exposure to desogestrel, with nearly 1.3 million users in a given month in France, was estimated at 15 per year”, underlines the Vidal.

For women who are already taking this type of contraceptive, health authorities recommend not stopping their contraception without the advice of a health professional. If certain symptoms appear, they should consult quickly: vision problems, frequent headaches, paralysis, weakness in the arms or legs, problems with language, hearing, smell, memory, dizziness or more convulsions.

In this work, scientists also studied the link between levonorgestrelused in certain methods of contraception, and the risk of meningioma. And the conclusion is rather reassuring: there is no additional risk for women who use it alone or combined with ethinylestradiol, regardless of the duration of exposure.