Listen "Unpacking Health Headlines: Contraception, Brain Tumours, and GLP-1 Medications and Smear Test Changes"
Episode Synopsis
Send us a text (don’t worry it’s not a real text and we don’t get your number) Recent social media claims about contraception and health risks require careful examination, as medical headlines often lack crucial context that healthcare professionals need to provide to patients.• The claim that "contraceptive injections increase brain tumour risk" refers specifically to benign intracranial meningiomas, with risk increasing from 0.01% to 0.04%• Average age of women in the depo-contraceptive/meningioma study was 57.6 years, when guidelines already recommend switching from depo around age 50• GLP-1 medications (like Ozempic and Mounjaro) require reliable contraception during use and for two months after discontinuation• Mounjaro specifically decreases oral contraceptive effectiveness, requiring either non-oral contraception or barrier methods during titration periods• UK cervical screening now moves to 5-yearly for HPV-negative results due to HPV vaccination success reducing cervical cancer by 90%• Scotland reports zero cervical cancer cases in women vaccinated since the 2008 HPV vaccination programme began• Any concerning symptoms warrant immediate investigation rather than waiting for routine screening appointments• Self-testing options for cervical screening are being piloted to improve the current 64-65% uptake rateI'll link all resources mentioned in the description. Feedback and suggestions are welcome through the anonymous message function above the description.BMJ Study Depo - Use of progestogens and the risk of intracranial meningioma: national case-control study | The BMJFSRH Statement Depo - FSRH CEU Statement: Response to new study by Roland et al (2024) | FSRHPfizer Statement Depo - Medroxyprogesterone_acetate_-_Risk_of_meningioma_and_measures_to_minimise_this_risk_-_to_publish.pdfFSRH Statement GLP-1 and oral contraception - CEU-statement-GLP-1-agonists-and-contraception.pdfFSRH Patient info leaflet GLP-1 - Patient-information-GLP-1-agonists-and-contraception.pdfUK Gov info GLP-1 - GLP-1 medicines for weight loss and diabetes: what you need to know - GOV.UKBMJ Extention to Cervical Screening - Extension of cervical screening intervals with primary human pap Follow us on social media Facebook Instagram We really appreciate any likes, comments or shares. Please also feel free to suggest any topics you would like to see us cover.
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