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If you are thinking of starting fertility treatments, you are probably doing your research and learning all you can about fertility drugs before getting started. In your research, you may have run across articles about fertility drugs being linked to cancer, fertility drugs causing cancer, or something like that. Claim Your 20 Free Pregnancy Tests – Click Here
You might be freaking out, and wondering if these articles are true or just rumors or myths. Today we are going to explore this topic a little further and find out if fertility drugs really do increase your risk of getting cancer.
All medications have risks
Fertility drugs are medications just like any other. All medications come with risks, even over the counter medications that we take for colds, sinuses or allergies. Even common over the counter pain relievers like Ibuprofen and Tylenol come with warnings. Any drug that you put into your body comes with a risk, and fertility drugs are no exception.
The fact of the matter is that the research done between fertility drugs and cancer risk is just not conclusive. Studies done a few years ago showed an increased risk for breast cancer as well as uterine cancer related to fertility drugs, namely Clomid. Recent follow-up studies have shown no risk at all. Even more, surveys have shown that fertility drugs can actually lessen the risk of cancer. How in the world do all of these studies say such different things?
Results may vary
The results are varied and complicated, and researchers are still trying to understand what exactly they mean. A recent study that was published in the summer of 2012 by the Journal Of The National Cancer Institute suggests that the real deciding factor between fertility drugs and cancer risk is whether or not pregnancy occurred.
For women who used fertility drugs, but did not have success in carrying a pregnancy at all, or who carried a pregnancy for less than ten weeks, the breast cancer risk was actually less than women who used no fertility drugs. However, for women who did get pregnant and carried the pregnancy for at least ten weeks, the breast cancer risk was considerably higher. Why is this? Researchers really aren’t sure at this point, and more research is needed on the subject.
The bottom line
Cancer risk as related to fertility drugs is a very controversial topic and one that many doctors disagree on. Some doctors agree that the risk when using fertility drugs is not any higher than the cancer risk of the general public so that you are not really putting your body in any more danger than it would normally be in anyway. More research is definitely needed on the subject, however.
For now, though, the general consensus is that fertility drugs do not significantly increase the risk of breast or uterine cancer in most women. For women facing fertility issues, sometimes the benefits outweigh the risks. You have to weigh the risks carefully in your own case and decide which course of action to take.
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