Beautiful Teen sexy girl picture

Study supports link between injectable hormonal contraceptive and HIV risk Worldwide about 144 million women use hormonal contraception--around 41 million use the injectable forms and 103 million take the oral contraceptive pill. Whether or not use of hormonal contraceptives increases women's risk of HIV acquisition has been hotly debated for more than two decades. But research so far has been inconclusive. Researchers from the University of California at Berkeley in the USA conducted a meta-analysis of all existing data examining the effect of using the most commonly prescribed forms of hormonal contraception (combined oral contraceptives, progestin-only pills, and the injectable contraceptives DMPA and norethisterone enanthate) on HIV risk up to June, 2014. Analysis of 12 observational studies from sub-Saharan Africa involving 39 560 women suggest that DMPA use increases a woman's chance of becoming infected with HIV by 40% compared with women using other contraceptive methods or no method. Although statistically significant, this represents only a moderate increase in relative risk. This risk appears to be lower among women in the general population (increase 31%) than for women already at high risk of acquiring HIV such as sex workers. However, the limited number of studies on high risk women leaves uncertainty for this important subgroup of women. No increased risk was noted for users of oral contraceptive pills, combined oral contraceptives, or norethisterone enanthate. "The moderate elevation in risk observed in our study is not enough to justify a complete withdrawal of DMPA for women in the general population," cautions Lauren Ralph, lead author and an epidemiologist at the University of California at Berkeley. "Banning DMPA would leave many women without immediate access to alternative, effective contraceptive options. This is likely to lead to more unintended pregnancies, and because childbirth remains life-threatening in many developing countries, could increase overall deaths among women."