Sarah George - Department of Reproductive Health
Since the 1960’s, women have been using birth control pills, but researchers still have not identified all their direct impacts on female health. Researchers from Aarhus University set out to investigate the stress response of 131 young women (mean age of 20.5) in the United States, a sample that included both those who took birth control (BC) and those who didn’t. In order to determine their stress level, researchers examined the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) levels. ACTH hormone is released by the pituitary gland to trigger the adrenal glands release of a stress hormone called cortisol. The study focused particularly on the responses to stress reducing group activities across the women’s various stages of the menstrual cycle, taking their BC use into account.
The study revealed that the stress reduction of those not on BC heavily depended on what stage of the menstrual cycle they were in. While there was a significant reduction in ACTH levels during the secretory and menstrual phases (~14-19 days before and during menses), those in the proliferative phase (occurring for ~14 days after menses) had no significant change in their ACTH levels. However, for women who were on BC, there wasn’t a significant decrease in ACTH levels regardless of their menstrual stage.
The effects of stress-dampening social activities demonstrated possible suppressive effects of BC on stress regulation. Since BC has proven to have ACTH reducing effects, the researchers noted that this may have hidden the stress reducing effects of the group activities as the women on BC already had lower ACTH levels. The scientists concluded that it is crucial for larger, reproducible studies to be conducted on birth control” to determine the impact it can have on stress and how contraceptive use and menstrual stage can affect ACTH measuring tests within the clinic.
References:
Garforth , B., Winterdahl , M., Zak , P. J., Pederson, M. V., & Hansen , L. (2023, June 19). Adrenocorticotropic hormone secretion in response to anticipatory stress and venepuncture: The role of menstrual phase and oral contraceptive use. Behavioral Brain Research. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166432823002681?via%3Dihub.
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