in september 2016, some researchers in denmarkpublished a huge study, with data from more than a million people over almost 20 years. what they found was a connection between womenusing hormonal birth control and taking antidepressants. needless to say, it’s been making waveson the internet, as reporters blast out headlines like “the pill causes depression.†but like so many things in science, and especiallyresearch on humans, it’s not really that simple. the pill has its pros and cons, and it’sused for way more than just preventing pregnancy. whether you’re using pills, patches, injections,or implants, hormonal birth controls all basically
work the same way. they dump some synthetic hormones into yourbloodstream – mostly progestins, and sometimes estrogen. normally, these hormones are made by the ovariesat certain times in certain amounts, and help with lots of biological stuff. estrogen regulates the menstrual cycle, forexample, and progestins help bulk up the uterus to get it ready for a potential fetus. adding a bunch of synthetic hormones stabilizesthose normally-changing levels, which stops the ovaries from releasing eggs, so therearen’t any around to be fertilized in the
first place. plus, they make the cervical mucus thickerand goopier, which might make it more difficult for sperm to get through the cervix and intothe uterus at all. together, these effects are really potentand make it a lot harder to get pregnant. even when it’s used imperfectly, some estimatessay only about 9 women in 100 will get pregnant while just on the pill. compared to the 18 women in 100 that mightget pregnant from imperfectly using male condoms, that’s pretty good. but birth control isn’t just used to controlbirths!
synthetic hormones can help patients withother health conditions, too. [p-c-o-s]take polycystic ovary syndrome, or pcos, which is a nasty combination of enlarged ovaries,irregular periods, and even infertility – all caused by higher levels of androgen hormones. when people with pcos aren’t trying to getpregnant, the pill works really well to balance out hormones and treat the condition. [endo-mee-tree-oh-sys]hormonal birth control can also help with painful cramps, which are caused by uterusmuscles contracting, and endometriosis, or too much uterine tissue growth.
and even when people are just taking the pillfor contraception, there might be some benefits, like a decreased risk of ovarian and endometrialcancer. scientists think the extra synthetic progestinsmight tell the body to kill off older ovarian cells, so they don’t stick around and havethe chance to mutate and become dangerous. so the pill can do a lot of good, but thereare some risks, as well. research has found a very small possible increasein the risk of other cancers, like breast and liver cancer, in patients that were usinghormonal birth control with extra estrogen. a similar risk has been seen in people whoget their periods early, or never have kids. this link is still pretty uncertain, but itseems to be a danger from exposure to lots
of estrogen, natural or artificial. some researchers think this might have todo with cells breaking down the estrogen and making oxygen radicals, which are really chemicallyreactive, can damage dna, and cause cancerous mutations. on the other hand, pills with synthetic progestinscan make it more likely for blood clots to form in veins, a condition called deep veinthrombosis. researchers think the synthetic hormones inthe pill can trigger an increase of blood clotting factors, basically making blood “stickierâ€and more likely to clump up. if these clots break loose, they can travelto the lungs and block an artery, and keep
oxygen from getting into the bloodstream,which can be deadly. and finally, there might be mental healthrisks, including depression. a recent, big study found a link between theuse of antidepressants and the use of hormonal birth control methods, like the pill, patch,and iuds. but, even though there were over a millionpeople surveyed, they were all danish women, which is a pretty limited population. plus, contraceptives have changed a lot inthe past 20 years while they were collecting data, so it’s hard to figure out what specificallyabout the hormonal birth control might be to blame.
so it is an important study to help us understandsome of the possible risks of the pill and other hormonal methods. but it’s also just one piece of evidence. ultimately, we can only say that there’sa correlation in their data, but we can’t know anything for sure about causation yet. as for other research: in 2012, a meta analysisof studies from 1976 to 2010 on hormonal birth control and depression didn’t find a clearlink between the two. but there also weren’t that many studiesout there – the scientists were only able to look at around 25 research papers and reviews.
so, does birth control cause depression? maybe... but maybe not. but lots of scientists agree that more researchneeds to be done! hormonal birth control has completely changedthe game in health and letting people choose if and when they want to become pregnant. and like any medical treatment, it comes withsome risks. it’s up to researchers and doctors to figureout how high those risks are – and up to individual people to decide whether thoserisks are worth the benefits to them. thanks for watching this episode of scishow,which was brought to you by our patrons on
patreon. if you want to help support this show, justgo to patreon.com/scishow. and don’t forget to go to youtube.com/scishowand subscribe!
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