MedicalXpress.com
Birth control pills affect memory, study finds
September 9, 2011 | Provided by University of California - Irvine
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-birth-pills-affect-memory.html (http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-birth-pills-affect-memory.html)
Women who use contraceptives like birth control pills experience memory changes, according to new UC Irvine research. Their ability to remember the gist of an emotional event improves, while women not using the contraceptives better retain details."What's most exciting about this study is that it shows the use of hormonal contraception alters memory," UCI graduate researcher Shawn Nielsen said. "There are only a handful of studies examining the cognitive effects of the pill, and more than 100 million women use it worldwide.
*Posted this article as an interest item to those on or about to undergo HRT. -SJ
huh... that "is" fascinating!
could this be why my memory has gone to crap?
Birth control affecting memory explains why so many women forget to take it :D.
Couldn't resist. Well I look to start HRT soon, so I hope I remember this thread so I can let everyone know how it affects me (no pun intended).
Interesting, because I read a metastudy last year (a year ago this week, to be exact) which evaluated thousands of studies regarding the relationship between hormonal changes in pregnancy and permanent changes in neural functioning in brain regions related to memory. It found overwhelming evidence of small but statistically significant improvements in memory between women who were multiparous compared with women who were primiparous or nulliparous. There was evidence of improvements with each pregnancy that could be measured both in memory tests and brain imaging studies.
So I'm really not surprised to find that hormones, including birth control pills, can affect memory!
Get some Ginkgo Biloba ;)