Oral contraceptives can have negative effects on women’s health: age of onset and microbiota can be determinants
according to a University of Ottawa studythe negative effects of oral contraceptives, such as birth control pills, on women’s brain and mood may depend on age and gut microbiome.
Oral contraceptives were first introduced in the 1960s and are some of the most commonly used drugs among women, including an estimated 100 million worldwide. They often contain synthetic hormones and are often prescribed during adolescence for contraception, but also for acne or premenstrual syndrome.
Scientists believe that about 20% of users will experience negative consequences, but knowledge is lacking to understand why. Not all women taking oral contraceptives experience adverse effects on mood and cognition, and there are notable individual differences.
In the current study, the team found that a possible factor could be the age of onset of oral contraceptive use. Women who started taking oral contraceptives in their early teens may be more susceptible to experiencing these adverse mood effects.
The gut microbiome may be an important mediator of the effects of oral contraceptives on mood, since oral contraceptives are taken by mouth and the gut microbiome can modulate symptoms of depression.
The team states that adolescence is a critical developmental period during which the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis (essentially responsible for the onset of puberty) is activated and undergoes a maturation process, which causes an increase in the production and release of gonadal steroid hormones (ie estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone) and leads to the development of secondary sexual characteristics and sexual maturation.
During this period, the brain also undergoes extensive remodeling and reorganization, resulting in structural and functional changes driven by endogenous sex hormones.
It is important for scientists to understand the impact of oral contraceptives on the developing adolescent brain, as these effects may be mediated through the gut-brain axis. The team says this work is very important because women’s health research has been neglected for decades and there are many issues specific to women’s health that imperatively need to be addressed.
They cannot say whether or not it is safe to prescribe oral contraceptives to our young women, as many factors must be taken into account, but they hope that by making the information available, women will be able to make informed decisions for themselves.
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