(Oral contraceptives and myocardial infarction: results of the MICA case-control study)

(Commentary: Oral contraceptives and myocardial infarction: reassuring new findings)

There is no significantly increased risk of myocardial infarction (heart attack) in women who use oral contraceptives, say researchers in this week's BMJ. The team led by Dr Nicholas Dunn from the Drug Safety Research Unit in Southampton studied 2176 aged between 16 and 44 years of whom 448 had experienced a myocardial infarction. Of these women 87 per cent had not been taking any oral contraceptives but 88 per cent had one or more known cardiovascular risk factors. The authors also found that there was no evidence of a difference between second and third generation oral contraceptives on the risk of myocardial infarction. The authors conclude that myocardial infarction is rare in this age group but that if young women wish to preserve cardiovascular health, they should above all else be advised to stop smoking.

Contact:

Dr Nicholas Dunn, Senior Research Fellow, Drug Safety Research Unit, Bursledon Hall, Southampton [email protected]

Professor RD Mann, Director, Drug Safety Research Unit, Southampton. [email protected]

Professor �jvind Lidegaard, Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Herlev Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Denmark [email protected]