Latest news with #contraceptive
Washington Post
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
A 200-year-old condom with a racy illustration makes its museum debut
It's an illustration that would be racy even by today's standards: A nun points her finger at a trio of clergymen, who raise their robes to reveal their aroused state. Her bare legs are splayed open, in a bizarre and humorous exchange. If that wasn't risqué enough, the drawing was printed on a condom nearly 200 years ago and is thought to have been circulated as a brothel souvenir. Likely made from a sheep's appendix, the early contraceptive is also inscribed with the words 'Voilà mon choix,' or 'This is my choice' — a tongue-in-cheek jab at celibacy.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Women claim seizures, weight gain and heart problems were caused by contraceptive jab linked to brain tumours
Women have alleged that the contraceptive jab, which has been linked to brain tumours, left them suffering debilitating side effects that, in some cases, 'ruined' their lives. Posting on social media, a number of patients have said the injection triggered heart palpitations, anxiety, weight gain and extreme mood swings, with many wishing they never took it. The jab, administered to some 5 million women in the UK, is given every three months and stops reproduction by preventing eggs from being released by a woman's ovaries. But its safety has recently been called into question after studies found the injection, known by the brand name Dep-Provera, raised the risk of brain tumours five-fold. Researchers found those who had the jab were far more likely to develop a meningioma, a type of brain tumour that is non-cancerous but can kill by compressing the brain and nerves if it grows too big. Last October, UK watchdog the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority called for the injection's manufacturer Pfizer to include a warning about the risk in patient information leaflets. Pfizer, the drug firm behind the jab, also wrote to NHS doctors urging them to stop women from using Depo-Provera immediately if they were diagnosed with a meningioma. On Wednesday, it came to light that some 200 UK women who feared the jab was to blame for their meningioma are now considering legal action. About 400 US women have launched a class action against Pfizer and other generic makers of Depo-Provera. Now, women have taken to social media to complain of a range of health problems they believe were caused by the jab. In one TikTok video a women named Emily Rose said the shot 'completely ruined' her life. In the caption of the video, she wrote that she wouldn't recommend it unless you're 'prepared to do your research'. She claimed to have suffered heart palpitations, anxiety, loss of appetite, and described feeling like 'a complete stranger' to herself. Others echoed her experiences in the comments section. One mother said getting the contraceptive jab was 'literally the worst mistake' she has ever made, while another told of 'skyrocketing anxiety', 'headaches from hell' and visual disturbances. 'I regret it so much,' she added. In another TikTok video, a women named Calyssa described 'life-ruining' withdrawal symptoms when she stopped having the jab. Specifically, she claimed it was responsible for extreme weight gain—causing her to gain more fat than she did during pregnancy. In the caption to the video she said: 'The Depo-Provera birth control I can say ruined my life and body. 'Getting off of it made conceiving take longer and my body had withdrawal effects where the weight gain went up before it went down. 'Plus, I was always moody and rageful with it. It gave me rage.' Elsewhere, in a Reddit post shared late last year, a 24 year-old woman with no prior health issues shared her suspicions that two seizures she suffered may have been linked to the jab. The woman claimed she had an initial seizure in June 2024 while driving 'out of nowhere', which landed her in the back of an ambulance. While she remarkably sustained no injuries, her car was 'totaled'. The hospital carried out tests which all came back clear, but one week later she claimed that she suffered another seizure. 'My body was hot, heavy & tingly, and then my boyfriend said I went 'lifeless' in my eyes and started to seize,' she wrote. The only common theme she claimed she noticed was that she had received her Depo jab a week before each seizure. Sherry Brown, of Louisiana in the US, is one of the women who believe the contraceptive jab left them with a life-altering brain tumour. She told MailOnline that she started taking Depo-Provera in 2001, when she was drawn to the jab for its convenience compared to the pills she took before. However, she stopped taking the injection in 2003 due to weight gain, staying off other birth control until undergoing a hysterectomy in 2004 when she was 27. Brown thought nothing of her time on Depo-Provera until she randomly passed out in 2019 and hit her head. Doctors discovered a meningioma in her brain, though they decided not to start any treatments due to its small size. Two years later, in 2021, Brown lost her sense of smell. She also suffered regular memory lapses, taking several minutes to remember routines she had spent years perfecting. Scans revealed a second meningioma. Though the newer tumour was too small for doctors to risk removing, her primary growth had grown to about 1.5 inches, roughly the size of a silver dollar coin. Earlier this year, at age 47, Brown underwent a gamma knife procedure, which uses radiation to stop tumour growth without making any incisions. She will have scans later this year to see if the procedure stopped the primary meningioma from growing. If it is unsuccessful, she will likely have to have brain surgery to remove either one or both tumours. 'It's a constant fear and thought in the back of my mind: Are the tumors going to grow? Is either one of them going to grow?' Brown said.
Daily Mail
28-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Alert over popular type of contraception that could raise risk of brain tumours five-fold - hundreds launch legal action
Hundreds of women in the UK are considering legal action over fears that a widely-used contraceptive jab has put them at risk of a potentially-fatal brain tumour. NHS data suggest there are around 10,000 prescriptions for medroxyprogesterone acetate – known under the brand name Depo Provera – issued every month in England. However, a 2024 study in the British Medical Journal revealed women who used it for more than a year were five times more likely to suffer a meningioma, the most common type of tumour in the brain. An estimated 3,240 people a year in the UK are diagnosed with the condition. The UK drug safety watchdog – the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority – last October called for the jab's manufacturer, the global pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, to include a warning about the heightened risk in patient information leaflets. Pfizer also wrote to NHS doctors urging them to immediately stop women from using Depo Provera if they were diagnosed with a meningioma. The drug is a hormone injection give every three months and works by preventing eggs from being released by a woman's ovaries. It was first licensed for use on the NHS as a contraceptive over 40 years ago. But the BMJ study, by a team of scientists from the French National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety, raised the alarm over the jab's safety. It analysed data on more than 18,000 women in France who underwent surgery for meningioma between 2009 and 2018. Although non-cancerous, the condition can cause blurred vision, headaches, hearing loss, poor sense of smell and problems with swallowing. Tumours are normally slow-growing but can kill by compressing the brain and nerves if they grow too big. Meningiomas develop in the meninges, the membrane that lines the outside of the brain, and are more common in women. The French study showed that while the numbers developing meningioma while using the jab were still small, they were significantly higher than in women not on it. No such increase in risk has been found with other hormonal contraceptives – such as the pill. Around 400 women in the US have so far joined a class action against Pfizer and other generic manufacturers of the jab, alleging that they were aware of the link but failed to adequately warn users of the risks or promote safer alternatives. All the women developed meningiomas after using Depo Provera for at least a year. A hearing in the case is due to take place later this week in Florida, in which a judge is expected to set out a timeline for future proceedings. 'This case is moving at speed and this hearing will bring us closer to achieving justice for women who have never been warned about the increased risk of developing a brain tumour,' said Virginia Buchanan, partner at Levin Papantonio, the law firm handling the case in the US. A leading UK medico-legal expert, who asked not to be identified, said his firm has been approached in recent months by around 200 women who feared the contraceptive jab was to blame for their meningioma diagnosis, or had put them at increased risk of one. It's not yet clear whether there will be a UK class action similar to that in the US, since Britain has a more restrictive approach to group-based litigation cases. However, individual lawsuits are a possibility, the expert said. Dr Noemie Rowland, a GP who led the French study on the links with brain tumours, said women on the jab should have regular scans to see if they had growths developing. 'Neurological monitoring should be the rule in patients over 40 years of age to detect a meningioma as soon as possible,' she said. Pfizer UK said it was unable to comment.
Daily Mail
28-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Hundreds of women ready to sue over contraceptive jab linked to brain tumours - as doctor warns prescribing drug 'verges on medical negligence'
Hundreds of women in the UK are considering taking legal action over fears a contraceptive jab has put them at risk of a potentially fatal brain tumour. Every month, about 10,000 prescriptions are handed out in England for medroxyprogesterone acetate, known under the brand name Depo-Provera, NHS data shows. But a study, published last year, revealed women who had used it for more than a year were five times more likely to suffer a meningioma, a type of brain tumour. It is non-cancerous but can kill by compressing the brain and nerves if it grows too big. Last October, UK watchdog the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority called for the injection's manufacturer Pfizer to include a warning about the risk in patient information leaflets. Pfizer also wrote to NHS doctors urging them to stop women from using Depo-Provera immediately if they were diagnosed with a meningioma. The study by France's National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety analysed data on more than 18,000 women in France who'd had surgery for meningioma between 2009 and 2018. While the number who developed a tumour while using the jab was small, the risk was significantly higher than for those not on it. MailOnline reported earlier this month how an 18-year-old was advised by her gynaecologist to take the injection to avoid having her period. Jessica Blake said she has suffered 20 seizures since first taking the injection in January 2024 which she described as 'utterly terrifying'. While no doctor has been able to directly correlate Ms Blake's seizures with the medroxyprogesterone (Depo-Provera) injection, Ms Blake believes there 'has to be' a connection, given that she suffered from no prior medical conditions. She said: 'I've gone to A&E every time I've had these seizures and my most recent one led to me ending up in recuse. 'It's so frustrating and I feel lost. It's like a burden on my shoulder – I can't go out without worrying I'm going to have another seizure.' About 400 US women have launched a class action against Pfizer and other generic makers of the jab. They allege that the firms were aware of the link with meningioma but failed to adequately warn users of the risks. All the women developed meningiomas after using the jab for at least a year. Ahead of a court hearing on Friday in Florida, Virginia Buchanan, from US law firm Levin Papantonio, said: 'This will bring us closer to achieving justice for women who have never been warned about the increased risk of developing a brain tumour.' A UK medical legal expert, who did not want to be identified, said his firm had been approached by about 200 women who feared the jab was to blame for their meningioma or had put them at increased risk of it.
Daily Mail
20-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Contraceptive used by MILLIONS triples risk of strokes in young women - study has doctors concerned
Millions of women taking the combined contraceptive pill are at an increased risk of suffering a sudden, unexplained stroke, worrying research suggests. Researchers, who analysed data from over 500 women, found those who used a combined oral contraceptive —better known as The Pill—were three times more likely to suffer a stroke than those who didn't. This was despite researchers finding no significant link between The Pill and known risk stroke factors such as high blood pressure, migraines and obesity, suggesting it was the drug itself that was somehow responsible. Dr Mine Sezgin, an expert in neurology from Istanbul University and lead researcher of the new study, said the findings had implications for contraceptive use among women with health conditions that increased their risk of a stroke. 'Our findings confirm earlier evidence linking oral contraceptives to stroke risk and should prompt more careful evaluation of stroke risk in young women, particularly those with additional risk factors,' she said. 'This knowledge could help guide more personalised contraceptive choices for women.' The researchers are now advising healthcare professionals to exercise caution when prescribing the combined contraceptive pill to women with an increased risk of stroke. This isn't the first study to establish a link between The Pill and stroke risk and independent experts have previously urged women to not stop using contraceptives based on the results. They have said it is critical to remember the odds of a healthy woman suffering a stroke is extremely low in the first place, so the increased risk found in these studies quite small in real terms. Independent experts have also highlighted pregnancy carries a high risk of stroke. The Pill is a hormonal contraceptive, containing both oestrogen and progestogen, which prevents the ovaries from releasing an egg each month. In the UK, around 3.1million women take medication, according to recent data. But more than 100 million women around the world use the combined oral contraceptive, according to the World Health Organisation. In the new study, presented at the European Stroke Organisation conference in Helsinki, Finland, researchers examined data from 268 women aged 18-49 who had suffered a cryptogenic ischemic stroke. This is a stroke with no obvious identifiable causes. These women were matched with 268 stroke-free participants who acted as a control. Of the 536 participants, 66 stroke-patients and 38 women were taking the combined contraceptive pill. After adjusting for age and medical conditions researchers found women on The Pill had triple the risk of suffering a cryptogenic stroke. Researchers also accounted for various amount of oestrogen in the different oral contraceptives to ensure consistency. Dr Sezgin said: 'What is particularly notable is that the association remains strong even when accounting for other known risk factors, which suggests there may be additional mechanisms involved—possibly genetic or biological'. 'While out data provides important initial insights, larger studies are needed to determine if certain formulations carry different levels of risk.' When taken correctly, the combined pill is said to be over 99 per cent effective at preventing pregnancy. It is also commonly prescribed for heavy or painful periods, premenstrual syndrome, endometriosis and acne. However, The Pill has also been associated with a number of concerning health complications including blood clots, heart attacks and cancer. Common side effects include breakthrough bleeding, headaches, nausea and sore breasts. Some women also report weight gain and a change in sex drive, however, there is not enough evidence to say whether this is caused by the pill. According to the NHS, taking The Pill can increase a woman's chances of developing breast or cervical cancer, but this increased risk disappears 10 years after a woman stops taking it. The new research comes as new data suggests cases of strokes are skyrocketing in young people, with 100,000 patients suffering from the medical emergency each year in the UK. Strokes are one of the biggest killers in Britain, killing about 38,000 people each year and are also a leading cause of disability. The tell-tale symptoms of a stroke can be remembered using the acronym FAST: Face (drooping or inability to smile), Arms (weakness or inability to lift one arm), Speech (slurred or garbled), and Time (to call emergency services immediately). But other lesser-known symptoms to watch out include blurred vision or loss of sight in one or both eyes, a severe headache and feeling or being sick. Strokes are most commonly caused by fatty deposits or a blood clot blocking arteries supplying the brain—known as ischaemic stroke. This can happen as a result of cardiovascular disease as critical blood vessels become narrowed or blocked over time by plaques. Another type of stroke—called haemorrhagic strokes—occurs when a blood vessel bursts in the brain and starts to leak its contents into the organ.
