The essential elements to improve the health of your heart are diet, exercise, smoking and stress.
Oral Contraceptives Blamed for Heart Attack Risk
Synthetic forms of estrogen are used in oral contraceptives and can form plaque that can clog arteries. A recent study of nearly 1500 women aged 35 to 55 found that those women taking oral contraceptives (birth control pills) had a nearly 30 percent increased chance of forming dangerous plaque in their arteries.
Atherosclerotic plaque is comprised of cholesterol, bacteria and calcium which sticks to the inner walls of damaged arteries.
Women are generally much less likely than men to have strokes or heart attacks due to cholesterol build-up in their arteries. Women's cardiovascular disease is more likely to be in the peripheral vessels, or be caused by low mineral status causing spasms of the heart muscle and vessels, as opposed to reduced oxygen flow to the heart and brain due to plaque. However, women on the pill approach the risk of men for plaque formation, according to this new study, reported at the October meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Florida.
Birth control pills are taken by about 100 million women worldwide. However, "the pill" poses risks. If taken for more than 10 years, this new study says, women run the risk of clogged arteries, which can lead to stroke and heart disease.
Previous studies had shown that synthetic hormones used for birth control greatly increased the risk of blood clotting. Older forms of birth control pills combine estradiol and progestin, two laboratory-made mimics of the female sex hormones. The pills in the study were not the newer, very low dose hormones, which may confer less risk.
Other problems with synthetic estrogen, in any dose, include depletion of folic acid, magnesium, tyrosine (an amino acid important in thyroid function, among other actions), zinc, and vitamins B1, B3, B6, B12 and C.