The Women’s Health Initiative is best known for its research about the use of hormone replacement therapy. However, researchers, led by Dr. Rahi Victory, at Wayne State University have begun to examine its huge database for other information as well.

Speaking at the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, they presented some of what they had learned.

Pregnancy Complications Linked to Infertility

In their first study, they examined the records of more than 161,000 women, of whom 26,000 had been attempting conception without success for a year.

Using a variety of statistical techniques, they discovered that women with a prior history of infertility ran a higher risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as tubal pregnancy, miscarriage or stillbirth.

The team then investigated the WHI database to examine the relationship between oral contraceptive (OC) use and cardiovascular health.

In analyzing the WHI database records of some 67,000 women who used OCs, the researchers found a strong relationship between OC use and reduced risk of multiple cardiovascular disease-related outcomes, including any cardiovascular disease, hypercholesterolemia, angina, myocardial infarction, transient ischemic attack, peripheral vascular disease, and need for cardiac catheterization.

Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Their findings suggest that increasing age, elevated body mass index and smoking greatly increase risks, even in OC users.

The scientists used the same database to examine the history of gynecological cancers among those 67,000 OC users. There were a total of 14,849 cancers found in that group. The team concluded that a history of oral contraceptive use significantly reduces cancer risks.

“These results are very interesting, but need further review," says Marian Damewood, MD, President of ASRM, in a statement. "As always, women should ask their gynecologists about what these results might mean for them before making any decisions about their own health.”