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1. THROMBOEMBOLIC DISORDERS AND OTHER VASCULAR PROBLEMS a. Myocardial Infarction An increased risk of myocardial infarction has been attributed to oral contraceptive use. This risk is prima-rily in smokers or women with other underlying risk factors for coronary artery disease such as hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, morbid obesity, and diabetes. The relative risk of heart attack for current oral contraceptive users has been estimated to be two to six. 4-10 The risk is very low under the age of 30. Text Continues Below
Smoking in combination with oral contraceptive use has been shown to contribute substantially to the incidence of myocardial infarctions in women in their mid-thirties or older with smoking accounting for the majority of excess cases. 11 Mortality rates associated with circulatory disease have been shown to increase substantially in smokers, especially in those 35 years of age and older among women who use oral contraceptives. CIRCULATORY DISEASE MORTALITY RATES PER 100,000 WOMAN-YEARS BY AGE, SMOKING STATUS AND ORAL CONTRACEPTIVE USE TABLE III. (Adapted from P. M. Layde and V. Beral, ref. #12.) Oral contraceptives may compound the effects of well-known risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemias, age and obesity. 13 In particular, some progestogens are known to decrease HDL choles-terol and cause glucose intolerance, while estrogens may create a state of hyperinsulinism. 14-18 Oral con-traceptives have been shown to increase blood pressure among users (see Section 9 in WARNINGS). Similar effects on risk factors have been associated with an increased risk of heart disease. Oral contraceptives must be used with caution in women with cardiovascular disease risk factors. Norgestimate has minimal androgenic activity (see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY), and there is some evidence that the risk of myocardial infarction associated with oral contraceptives is lower when the progestogen has minimal androgenic activity than when the activity is greater Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Next >>
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