(updated 2/2019)
Enemies Towards Your Breasts
Did you know that birth control pills and other contraceptive methods that use synthetic hormones, could be enemies toward your breasts?
Women take birth control pills (or hormonal IUDs and shots) the world over. Providers hand out hormonal contraception scripts like M&M’s. Thus, we assume they’re safe (as do many of our providers).
But research from the mid 1970’s onward is showing this is not necessarily true.
On one hand, birth control pills may be helpful and protective for some conditions. For example, the use of the pill reduces the risk of certain cancers, such as ovarian cancer. But hormonal contraceptives can cause many serious issues in certain women and the list of complications and diseases keeps growing.
Contraception that uses synthetic hormones has now been solidly linked, in peer- review scientific literature, to increasing the risk of breast cancer, leaky gut, inflammatory bowel diseases, heart disease, stroke, migraines, and even suicide attempts.
Birth Control and Nutrition
As far a nutrition goes, birth control pills rinse more nutrients out of the body than almost any other drug on the open market. Maybe these critical nutritional deficiencies are the “root cause” of why so many other issues are being linked to hormonal birth control exposure.
Hormonal contraception contains synthetic progestins (not to be confused with natural progesterone) and/or synthetic estrogens, called ethinyl estradiol.
Synthetic progestins have been repeatedly linked to spasms of the arteries, increased growth of pre-existing breast cancer cells, and life-threatening blood clots. Ethinyl estradiol, which is the man-made estrogen used in many commercial hormone therapies such as combination birth control pills and some medically coated IUDs, is even used as a toxic control in endocrine disruption research. Why? It is divergent and potentially more damaging when compared to our own naturally home-made estradiol.
Women world-wide take birth control pills. Not every woman gets ill from them, but some of the illnesses take a long time to manifest. Most are never linked back to the contraception. Some occur if the woman already had an underlying genetic glitch that was lying in wait for an environmental trigger, like a synthetic hormone.
Multiple millions on the pill? How many of these women are warned about the potential complications or instructed to replace the lost critical nutrients?
Almost none.
Danish Study
This December 2017, a huge observational study on 1.8 million women has come out of Denmark. This study was designed to assess the relationship between the newer, lower-dose, formulations of hormonal birth control, including progestin-only contraceptives, and how these effect a woman’s risk of getting breast cancer.
The results, published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, found that hormonal contraceptives statistically increase your risk of getting breast cancer.
And it’s time dependent. The longer you are on hormonal contraception (whether it be the pill, synthetic hormonally coated IUD’s or synthetic hormonal shots), the greater your risk of getting breast cancer.
• Women taking hormonal contraception for 10 years or more have a stunning 40% increased risk of developing breast cancer.
• Women in their 40’s have more risk than women in their 20’s and 30’s.
• And older women (40’s and upward) on commercial hormonal contraception, develop higher risks for diverse heart disease complications, such as clots, strokes and other issues.
Hormone Replacement Fears
Many women are scared to death to take hormone replacement therapies due to the Women’s Health Initiative’s first release in 2002 that made headline news that suggested hormone replacement caused breast cancer and heart disease. But multiple re-analyses by prestigious institutions, clearly showed that it was the synthetic progestins as well as the age and obesity of the participants that were the damaging issues. But the re-analyses didn’t make headline news.
For some reason, this thinking and facts, have not made women understand the potential threat of synthetic birth control.
Birth control pills can cause other serious issues besides breast cancer. Birth control pills are the major cause of stroke in women in their later 30’s and 40’s. Doctors who give birth control pills as hormone replacement for peri-menopausal women with symptoms, rather than bioidentical hormonal versions that do not have these associations, are practicing high risk health care. A number of women have come into my office on canes or in wheel chairs secondary to synthetic birth control induced stroke.
What is the Price?
Since the mid 1970’s, many peer review articles have shown that birth control pills promote leaky gut and can initiate inflammatory bowel diseases in genetically-at- risk women. I lectured on this topic at A4M in Chicago (a program to certify MDs as functional physicians) to a room of 100+ MDs. None of the doctors present had ever heard of this research.
Women use birth control to have more life control. But at a price.
It’s incredibly frustrating to see how many practitioners in medicine are skeptical about natural approaches for health issues, yet they hand out hormonal contraception without ever discussing these potential side-effects or safety concerns. Or inquire if first degree family relatives have inflammatory bowel disease. And if so, perhaps you are not a candidate for this contraception.
Would this be the scenario if scary statistics were linked to a drug that millions of males were taking?
Probably not.
Will this study and information change clinical practice?
Probably not.
Yes, there are some complex risk-to-benefit ratios, meaning sometimes birth control pills help heal certain conditions, like PCOS, endometriosis or acne. But these conditions are also effectively helped by natural interventions without the potential harmful side effects of synthetic hormones.
Too many doctors and nurses are not aware of the science that points to these dangerous complications.
If you knew all of the above risks, perhaps you would now choose barrier and timing methods instead. Or choose to continue to take hormonal contraception, but make sure you include all the nutrients that are lost by taking them (Folate, Vitamins B2, B6, B12, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium, Zinc and Magnesium).
PS –
This literature, of oral contraceptives inducing nutrient depletions, has been known and well documented and published, since the early 1970’s. Anyone mention this to you when handing you a script? Or when handing your daughter or granddaughter a script?
In modern society, we think our doctors know it all. Medicine, as an industry, has been wildly successful in getting us to think this way. We sheeple have our own part in this, too, for many of us long to give our power and health totally over to others. Less work. We want to be told what to do, and take a pill.
Easier? Yes.
More treacherous. Yes.
For More Information
Check out these podcasts:
Hormones After 50 with Gynecologist Jack Monaco
Four Strategies to Protect Estrogens – with Guest Dave Asprey
And Check Out These In-depth Courses:
(These courses include an average 4 hours of videos with Dr. Berkson utilizing Power Points and discussing the science. Dr. B makes learning easy and fun for everyone – not just the docs!)
Hormones, Breast Biomes & Food
Everything About the New Estrogen – it’s metabolism made simple, nutrients and food influencers and how to keep your estrogen safe.
References:
• N Engl J Med. 2017 Dec 7;377(23):2228-2239. Contemporary Hormonal Contraception and the Risk of Breast Cancer.
• JoAnn E. Manson. Hormonal Contraception and Risk for Breast Cancer: Many Caveats – Medscape – Dec 13, 2017.J
• Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2017 Sep;29(9):1064-1070. Exposure to oral contraceptives increases the risk for development of inflammatory bowel disease: a meta-analysis of case-controlled and cohort studies.
• Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2013 Jul;17(13):1804-13. Oral contraceptives and changes in nutritional requirements