If you are a woman who are overweight, do not original in choosing a contraceptive. Some of the specific hormonal contraceptive methods are known to increase the risk of diabetes in women who are overweight.
Researchers from the University of Southern California share a number of women who are overweight into 3 groups based on the use contraceptives to control pregnancy. The first group consisted of women who use non-hormonal methods of contraception, including condoms, sterilization (male or female) or IUD.
The second group consists of women using progestin-based contraceptive IUD. While the other women using progestin-based hormonal contraceptive devices are implanted under the skin.
The study did not include women who use progestin-based contraceptive methods such as pills, rings or injections. Researchers also conducted a study based solely on hormone progestin only and not other types.
Progestin is a synthetic version of progesterone, the female sex hormone, which plays an important role in pregnancy. Progestin is a hormone used in hormone replacement therapy that is widely used to treat menopausal symptoms.
However, progestin injections have also been associated with fertility treatment failure. Researchers find new risk in a study of three groups of women. All means of birth control used in this study proved effective and none of the participants experienced changes in body weight and elevated levels of cholesterol or blood pressure.
Research shows that women who use hormonal contraceptives are implanted into the skin to increase blood sugar levels by 10 percent during the study period of 6 months. While women with progestin-based contraceptives, IUDs increase blood sugar as much as 5 percent.
In contrast, blood glucose levels has decreased by 2 percent in the control group. Changes in both groups may show an increased risk of developing diabetes. The effect is very striking because there was no increase in other diabetes risk factors, such as weight loss.
"Both injectable and implantable progestin on the skin, they can cause changes in the body's metabolism so that it can interfere with the breakdown of glucose," says researcher Penina Segall-Gutierrez.
Contraceptive studies often only see women with normal weight, while obese women need more information about the use of safe and effective contraceptive-related condition.
Obese women are also advised not to use estrogen-based hormonal contraceptives, since the drug is known to increase the risk of blood clots, which is very harmful to heart health.