The Lowdown’s October Newsletter

Hi everyone, Alice from The Lowdown here,

Autumn (or should that be winter) has hit us in full swing. It’s my first year of experiencing the clocks go back and instead of ‘getting an extra hours sleep’ being woken at 5am by my 1 year old.

This month our newsletter is sponsored by a wonderful team of researchers in Edinburgh who are looking for women to join a paid trial researching whether the contraceptive injection can work for 6 months, instead of 3 months. 

Read on to learn more about how you can help!

What’s the deal with IUDs and breast cancer risk?

Recent headlines have raised concerns about hormonal coils and breast cancer risk.

A Danish study published this month found a 40% higher risk of breast cancer in women using levonorgestrel-based coils (like Mirena, Kyleena, Jaydess) compared to those not using contraception. This accounts for an additional 14 cases for every 10,000 coil users.

Firstly, it’s important to say that hormonal contraception has previously been linked to breast cancer risk and so this isn’t news. And you should know that hormonal coils also reduce endometrial cancer risk. Due to the complex nature of breast cancer, we can’t actually work out the cause and effects, so it’s more of an association. Risk is complicated by “confounding factors”, for example, the fact that women with higher BMIs may be more likely to have heavy bleeding so use hormonal coils, but it’s the BMI which may be increasing the breast cancer risk, not the hormonal coil. And in fact, pregnancy carries higher risks, like blood clots and maternal mortality. One paper found that 12 women per 10,000 pregnancies had a life threatening blood clot but this doesn’t make the headlines ever. Everything is a balance.

There’s not enough data to make firm conclusions (shock) and the data we have is conflicting. While there may be a small risk associated with the hormonal coil and breast cancer, in reality the number of women under 50 using the hormonal coil who will get breast cancer is still really small. The biggest risk for breast cancer is your age. Our advice – be aware, be informed and make your choice about the hormonal coil with all the info – it’s a game changer for many, including for me and my endo symptoms. And finally – please check your boobs.

In the news…📰🌍

💊 New data finds that 1 in 5 patients struggle to access medicines due to delays from UK-wide shortages. 14% of these patients often had to return to the pharmacy at a later date and 4% had to visit multiple pharmacies to access what they needed. 

☹️ Women suffer from migraines x3 more than men due to our hormones, of course! When there’s a drop in estradiol (oestrogen), we are more susceptible to migraines. This is most often the case during the luteal phase just before menstruation and can also occur when you’re ovulating. Check out our article on how contraception can affect migraines.

🩸 A Cambridge school faced backlash after claiming that ‘period pain’ didn’t justify as an absence without a doctor’s note. Many women were really disappointed, especially considering the lengthy diagnosis process for conditions like endometriosis. Given the current strain on GPs, the expectation for them to provide notes felt excessive – we’re pleased to hear that following the criticism, the school has reversed its policy!

Review of the month: Our first woo hoo! in our reviews… Woo hoo! 🥳

Post of the month 🇺🇸 🐀 

That’s all for this month, thanks for reading!