OHSU study debunks contraceptive weight-gain issue
Reported May 26, 2011
The common belief that oral contraceptives cause women to gain weight does not appear to be true, according to a study from Oregon Health and Science University researchers released Wednesday.
According to lead researcher Alison Edelman, of OHSU’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, weight gain in people is traditionally hard to study with clinical precision. The OHSU team instead turned to rhesus macaque monkeys at the Oregon National Primate Research Center.
During the course of eight months, the monkeys were given weight-appropriate doses of oral contraceptives. Researchers tracked their weight, food intake, activity levels, body fat and muscle mass.
The monkeys who had started out at normal weight showed no weight gain, despite the oral contraceptives they received. A second group of monkeys who had started out obese actually lost weight and body fat. Researchers say that was due to an increase in metabolic rate associated with the contraceptives.
“This study suggests that worries about weight gain with pill use appear to be based more on fiction than on fact,” says Judy Cameron, one of the project’s researchers. The research was funded by the Society for Family Planning.
Credits: By Peter Korn & The Portland Tribune More details at http://portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=129547260779555000