Beware! Birth control pills can increase stroke risk

New York, Sep 19: Popping birth control pills can put you at increased risk for the most common type of stroke, especially if you smoke, have high blood pressure or have a history of migraine headaches, a new study warns. For healthy young women without any stroke risk factors, the risk of stroke associated with oral contraceptives is small. But in women with other stroke risk factors, "the risk seems higher and, in most cases, oral contraceptive use should be discouraged", said study co-author Marisa McGinley from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in the US. Oral contraceptives increase the risk of ischemic strokes, which are caused by blood clots and account for about 85 percent of all strokes. The study was reported in the journal MedLink Neurology.