Health Tip of the Week, sponsored by Baton Rouge General: Birth control and strokes—what you need to know about the risk

There are many positives for birth control such as regulating menstrual cycles, reducing hormonal acne and treating endometriosis. But did you know women who take birth control are twice as likely to have a stroke as those who don’t take the pill? Pills containing the hormones estrogen and progestin cause the clotting proteins in a woman’s body to thicken, increasing the risk of blood clots and stroke. Birth control patches and vaginal rings pose the greatest risk of stroke because the amount of estrogen absorbed by the body is reported to be 60 percent higher than the amount of estrogen delivered orally by the pill. Learn more about birth control and stroke.