Women who use birth control pills for three or more years are more susceptible to blindness later in life.
Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco; Duke University School of Medicine; and Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China have found a link between prolonged use of oral contraceptives and glaucoma, which is a leading cause of blindness in the United States.
It’s already known that low estrogen levels following menopause are a contributing factor to glaucoma in women, and although scientists are unsure why this happens, years of using birth control pills can add to this problem because the pills lower estrogen levels.
“We believe at this point, by analyzing the data, there is an association between long-term birth control use and glaucoma,” said Elaine Wang, of Duke University and an author of the study.
“Why? We’re not sure. The next step is to examine the eyes carefully and look at exactly what is happening to a woman’s vision when she’s on birth control pills. We need to verify these findings.”
Although the study authors say they need to do more research, they are stressing the importance of ophthalmologists screening their female patients who use the pill for glaucoma. African-American women are highest risk cases for glaucoma, so this is especially important for us.
The findings were presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
[Image: Shutterstock]