A study has revealed that mothers who use contraceptives during pregnancy period can cause cancer in their newborn babies.
In the survey carried out in Denmark where 606 were diagnosed with Leukemia, the data showed that children born by mothers who had used contraceptives were at a higher risk.
465 of the children possessed lymphoid leukemia while 141 had non-lymphoid.
The study, published by Lancet, categorised women into three: those who had never taken contraceptives before birth, those with more than three months use and those with less than three months use before birth.
The data was pulled from Danish Medical Registry for the status of Children born, then Danish Cancer Registry, to identify those born with (or acquired) leukemia and Danish National Prescription Registry to link with information on maternal hormonal contraceptives use.
“Hormonal contraception use close to or during pregnancy might have resulted in one additional case of leukemia per...25 cases during the nine-year study period,” published the study.
In Kenya, as of 2014, Kenya Demographic and Health Survey showed the contraceptives use had been on an upward spiral from 27% in 1989 to stand at 58%.
Out of all the women who use contraceptives, 26% use modern methods such as hormonal or the pill, 10% inject themselves with the drug, 5% use traditional means and only 2% use the male condom.
In the 15 to 49 age bracket, 60% of the women use contraceptives.
Leukemia is the cancer of the blood or the bone marrow and occurs when White Blood Cells (WBC) production is more than that of Red Blood Cells (RBC) and Platelets. The WBC are unable to fight off infection, RBC unable to supply enough oxygen and Platelets does not aid properly in Blood clot hence affecting normal functions of the body.
Signs and symptoms include constant fatigue, too much blooding even for a bruise and frequent infections.
Kids with cancer of the blood are estimated to survive for less than 5 years but breakthroughs are frequently realized with survival rates increasing.
