Contraceptive Hormones & CV Disease: Pursuing the Link

Research tells us that more than 80 percent of American women have used hormonal contraception during their lives. Though evidence suggests hormonal contraception could offer anti-atheromatous effects, the verdict is far from in. Further, we have a lot to learn about the long-term risks for thrombosis, arrythmogenesis, vasomotion and beyond. As we study the potential links between contraceptive hormone use and cardiovascular disease, where should our priorities lie? Host Dr. Janet Wright poses this question as part of a fascinating conversation with Dr. Noel Bairey Merz, director of the Women's Heart Center and the Preventive and Rehabilitative Cardiac Center, and the Women's Guild Endowed Chair in Women's Health at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and a professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.