The newer generation of contraceptive pills raises the risk of VTE, or serious blood clots, by 400 per cent. And they are twice as likely to cause a life-threatening clot as one of the older generation of oral contraceptives.
The absolute risk is still fairly small, say researchers from Nottingham University, and the pills will cause around 900 new cases of VTE in the 8 million UK women taking a contraceptive pill.
The risk also differs between the new contraceptive pills: levonorgestrel and norgestimate had a lower risk than desogestrel and cypoterone, which increased the risk four-fold.
Around 28 per cent of adult women in the UK take an oral contraceptive.
(Source: British Medical Journal, 2015; 350: h2135)
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