Hi Professor Hunt! My question is not specifically about the MTHFR mutation, but is a little more general about to the increased risk of thrombosis with hormonal birth control. Are you aware of research being done on ways that this can be minimized or new classes of birth control that don’t carry the same risk? For many women who are taking BC for medical reasons (other than to prevent pregnancy), there are not many good alternatives if clotting proves to be an issue. Long term non hormonal birth control methods (specifically copper IUDs) carry their own issues with extremely heavy periods, made even worse if a patient is on anticoagulants - and of course, they don’t treat the hormonal issues that estrogen BC would. As a woman who falls into this category, it is hard not to feel left behind.
RougeGarbageMouth t1_irredyi wrote
Reply to AskScience AMA Series: I am Prof. Beverley Hunt, OBE, and I am a hematologist in London, England. I am also chair of the World Thrombosis Day Steering Committee. I am here to talk about why MTHFR testing is unnecessary and can cause misinterpretation. AMA! by AskScienceModerator
Hi Professor Hunt! My question is not specifically about the MTHFR mutation, but is a little more general about to the increased risk of thrombosis with hormonal birth control. Are you aware of research being done on ways that this can be minimized or new classes of birth control that don’t carry the same risk? For many women who are taking BC for medical reasons (other than to prevent pregnancy), there are not many good alternatives if clotting proves to be an issue. Long term non hormonal birth control methods (specifically copper IUDs) carry their own issues with extremely heavy periods, made even worse if a patient is on anticoagulants - and of course, they don’t treat the hormonal issues that estrogen BC would. As a woman who falls into this category, it is hard not to feel left behind.
Edit: Typo