Other than preventing pregnancy, it is very common for teenage girls to get on the pill for reasons like managing their irregular periods and using the pill as a type of acne treatment; however, how many of them know what the pill is and how it affects their bodies? In this podcast episode, Kate Muir discusses the scary truths behind hormonal contraceptives and its dark history, including the birth of the hormonal contraceptives and the pope rule, and she provides information and resources to people who wish to learn more.
Meet Kate Muir
Kate Muir is a leading woman’s health expert, the producer of award-winning documentaries on menopause and the pill, and the author of essential guides like Everything You Need to Know About the Menopause (But Were Too Afraid to Ask) and Everything You Need to Know About the Pill (But Were Too Afraid to Ask). Her works are thorough guides to the world of hormones, and the information they contain is what women of all ages need to know.
The scary truths behind hormonal contraceptives
Research shows that 64% of the people started hormone contraceptives when they were in school. Since schools do not necessarily educate people about hormone contraceptives and their impacts, it is safe to say that most people who go on them do not fully understand hormones.
“We are not being told the full truth.” – Kate Muir
Muir emphasizes the importance of highlighting these ‘scary truths’ because they are often overlooked. The pill can have negative long-term effects on mental and physical health. Pills are synthetic hormones made in laboratories, so it is not surprising that they are not always compatible with the body’s natural hormones. Scandinavian databases reveal a 34-40% increased risk of antidepressant use among women using hormonal contraceptives. However, in the UK, textbooks and official websites say there have not been enough randomised controlled trials to show that the pill can make you more depressed because, as Muir emphasises, “nobody bothered to do big trials”.
Muir’s daughter, Molly, is one of the women whose mental health was affected by hormonal contraceptives.
“I think I’ll make the room sad if I come into it. Something just doesn’t feel right.” – Molly, Muir’s daughter
Since synthetic hormones do not always go well with people’s natural hormones, another way to go is to use natural hormones, which produce similar, if not better, results with fewer side effects. Natural hormones are not expensive and are hard to incorporate in hormonal contraceptives; however, they do not bring in much revenue for big pharmaceutical companies, who do not like to experiment with them.
Male hormonal contraceptives
This episode also touches on the topic of male contraceptives. There was a trial for male contraceptives that was cancelled in 2016 because it showed the same side effects that women’s contraceptives have been showing for years, e.g., high libido and low moods.
“There’s a different standard because there is no risk to a man of getting pregnant. […] They should change the scientific regulation to say this is about a couple, this is about people making a decision together and so it should be a shared risk.” – Kate Muir
Benefits of helping women with hormonal treatments
Muir also emphasises how helping women medically can benefit everyone in different aspects. For example, according to the NHS, Hormonal Replacement Therapy (HRT) actually helps with menopause as it helps with bone density, thus keeping joints flexible and muscles growing. Right now, it costs the NHS $4.6 billion a year to treat osteoporosis, but if more people were to know about HRT as a viable treatment, the cost could go down significantly, benefiting everyone.
More information and resources
Last but not least, Muir offers information and resources for people who are considering changing the pill or coming off of it.
Listen to the Full Podcast Episode.
This podcast episode is part of the month-long series ‘Fobbed Off and Female, ‘ A series on medical misogyny, and we are speaking to people who are trying to end the gender health gap.
