Birth Control Pills, HRT Tied to Digestive Ills

[Jamie D]

Birth Control Pills, HRT Tied to Digestive Ills

The use of oral contraceptives by younger women or hormone therapy by older women may be linked with inflammatory bowel disease, new research indicates.

Birth control pills are associated with a higher risk for Crohn's disease, said researcher Dr. Hamed Khalili, a clinical and research fellow of gastroenterology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Crohn's causes inflammation of the lining and wall of the large or small intestine, or both. The lining can become so inflamed it bleeds.

Hormone replacement therapy taken by some women after menopause is linked with ulcerative colitis, the study found. It is a disease of the colon (large intestine) or rectum. It causes diarrhea, abdominal cramping and rectal bleeding.

Although this article is directed toward cis-females, I thought it might be of interest to transwomen as well.