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Low-dose ‘pill’ may have less stroke risk for young women

Newer, low-dose birth control pills seem to carry less stroke risk than high-dose pills for young women, but should be prescribed with care, according to an Australian study published in today’s rapid access issue of Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association. The oral contraceptive pill (OCP) was introduced in the 1960s and, nearly simultaneously, researchers raised the possibility that it might induce stroke, says lead author Sasitorn Siritho, M.D. She conducted the study while a visiting research fellow at the National Stroke Research Institute, Austin & Repatriation Medical Centre in West Heidelberg, Australia.