Can Contraceptive Pill Affect Future Offspring’s Health? The Implications of Using Hormonal Birth Control for Human Evolution.
Resistance to disease is greater for offspring if the parents have dissimilar immune systems, as their pathogen-detection ability is enhanced. Accordingly, women evolved to be sexually attracted to men with a dissimilar immune system, primarily during high-fertility cycle phases. Contraceptive pills, however, reverse women’s preferences, leading them to be attracted to men with a similar immune system. In the present study (N = 192), we compared the health of children born to parents who met while the mother was on the pill with that of children whose parents met when the mother was not on the pill. Results confirmed our predictions, indicating that children to mothers who were on the pill are more infection-prone, require more medical care, suffer from a higher frequency of common sicknesses, and are perceived as generally less healthy than children whose parents met on non-pill circumstances. Results are discussed in light of the current antibiotic world crisis.
People often use the expression “it smells funny to me.” Research has recently indicated that when it comes to roman-tic partners, people should indeed follow their nose: the more they like their partner’s body odor, the better the genetic fit is with respect to immune system benefits for potential children (Roberts et al. 2013). Unfortunately, the commonly used contraceptive pills may cancel out these potential benefits. When women use contraceptive pills, which imitate a state of pregnancy (Alvergne and Lummaa 2010), their natural odor preference for good-fitting romantic partners is reversed, such that they switch to preferring the odor of poorly fitting partners (Wedekind and Füri 1997; Wedekind et al. 1995). To date, it is still unclear whether this shift in mate preference affects the health of children born to couples who have met while the woman was on pills. In the present study, we examined this possibility by comparing the health of children born to parents who met while the mother was on contraceptive pills with the health of those whose mother was not on pills.
How The Pill Harms Your Future Child’s Health.
by Sarah Pope
Source: https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/how-the-pill-can-harm-your-future-childs-health/
Since the introduction of oral contraceptives in the early 1960s, the use of The Pill, as it is generally known, has soared to approximately 7 in 10 women of childbearing age. Among young women ages 18-24, oral contraceptives use is especially high, reaching two-thirds in 2008. It seems most women have no knowledge of natural birth control options whatsoever!
The widespread use of The Pill is a troubling issue because oral contraceptives devastate beneficial bacterial flora in the gut leaving it vulnerable to colonization and dominance from pathogenic strains such as Candida albicans, Streptococci, and Staphylococci among others.
By the time a woman who has used birth control pills is ready to have children, a severe case of intractable gut dysbiosis has more than likely taken hold.
Most people think that only the use of drugs such as antibiotics causes gut imbalances, but this is simply not true.
According, to Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD, many other drugs such as the Pill also cause severe gut dysbiosis. What’s worse, a drug-induced gut imbalance is especially resistant to treatment either with probiotics or diet change.
What does this mean for your future child’s health? A lot, as it turns out!
The Pill and Nutritional Deficiencies
First of all, gut imbalance brought on through the use of The Pill negatively impacts the ability to digest food and absorb nutrients. As a result, even if a woman eats spectacularly well during pregnancy, she can experience nutritional deficiencies. If she has been taking oral contraceptives for a long period of time, it is highly likely that she and her baby are not reaping the full benefits of the healthy food she is eating. The lack of beneficial flora in her gut prevents this from occurring.
In addition, beneficial bacteria actively synthesize nutrients. These include vitamin K1, pantothenic acid, folate (NOT synthetic folic acid), thiamin (B1), cyanocobalamin (B12), amino acids and others. In an imbalanced gut, a woman is missing out on the “natural supplementation” that these good strains provide to her and her growing baby.
Not well known is the fact that using the Pill depletes zinc in the body. Zinc is called “the intelligence mineral” as it is intimately involved in mental development.
As a result, it is very important for women who have been using the Pill for any length of time to wait at least 6 months before becoming pregnant to ensure that zinc levels return to normal. Low zinc is associated with lowered IQ and birth defects. If you are concerned that your levels might be low, try this easy at-home zinc deficiency test to give you peace of mind.
It really is quite disturbing to fully realize the very real potential that the use of The Pill has to trigger nutritional deficiencies!
Pathogenic Gut Flora from Birth Control Pills Produce a Myriad of Toxins
Pathogenic, opportunistic flora that takes hold in the gut when The Pill is used constantly produce toxic substances. They are the by-products of their metabolism. These toxins leak into the woman’s bloodstream and guess what, they have the potential to cross the placenta! Therefore, gut dysbiosis exposes the fetus to toxins even if the woman never eats anything but organic foods and lives in an environment with no pollutants whatsoever.
Indeed, an imbalanced gut has the potential to expose a woman and her baby to just as many or even more toxins than her environment through self-poisoning!
Gut Dysbiosis Triggered by The Pill and Anemia Go Hand in Hand
Most people with abnormal gut flora also suffer from various stages of anemia. This is because some of the most common pathogenic strains of bacteria that take hold in an imbalanced gut are those that consume iron: Actinomyces spp., Mycobacterium spp., pathogenic strains of E.Coli, Corynebacterium spp. and others.
Anemia during pregnancy is especially dangerous. Not only can it deprive the fetus of oxygen (iron helps build red blood cells and red blood cells carry oxygen), but it is linked to low birth weight and pre-term birth and the many long term health and associated developmental problems.
Can iron supplements during pregnancy combat this problem?
In a word, no! How many women do you know who consistently battle low iron during pregnancy despite consuming iron supplements and eating iron-rich foods? I personally know many such cases.
The reason is that the more iron a patient with gut dysbiosis consumes in either food or supplement form, the stronger these pathogenic, iron loving strains become! The extra iron “feeds” them, so to speak, much the same as sugar feeds Candida albicans. The cure for gut dysbiotic anemia is to heal and seal the gut, not take iron supplements!
A Baby “Inherits” Gut Dysbiosis from Mom
A human baby is born with a sterile gut. This means that there is no bacterial activity in a fetus’ digestive system prior to birth. The vast majority of gut flora that a child eventually develops is inherited from Mom. This occurs via the baby swallowing microbes both good and bad during vaginal birth. If Mom has a gut imbalance, it will be the same situation in her vagina. Hence, her children’s intestines will be seeded with the same microbes during delivery. Babies born via Cesarean section are at risk for even more unbalanced gut flora.
Children with imbalanced gut flora are particularly predisposed to autoimmune disorders in the form of allergies, asthma, and eczema. In more severe cases of gut dysbiosis, learning disabilities manifest such as ADHD, ADD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and others. Of course, there is sometimes an environmental “trigger” which instigates these disorders. But, it is crucial to keep in mind that gut dysbiosis is the primary underlying cause.
Think Twice Before Taking Birth Control Pills
When considering whether or not to take oral contraceptives, women rarely if ever consider the long term implications to themselves let alone their children. This is no surprise given that doctors rarely if ever mention this sort of thing when prescribing antibiotics let alone The Pill to their patients!
Therefore, it is vital that women be fully informed of the potentially devastating consequences to their health and that of their children from birth control pills. Even their grandchildren may be affected according to preliminary research. This full disclosure is critical and the most ethical course of action for prescribing physicians.
Sources
March of Dimes, pregnancy complications
Mineral Primer
Gut and Psychology Syndrome, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD
Source:https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/how-the-pill-can-harm-your-future-childs-health/
Report: Contraceptive pills causing transgenderism in fish.
Sarah Taylor 2017-07-03
Source: The Blaze
According to a new study by Professor Charles Tyler of the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, fish are becoming transgender as a result of chemicals found in oral contraceptives.
Tyler’s study determined that approximately twenty percent of male freshwater fish became transgender as a result of chemicals being discharged down household drains.
“We are showing that some of these chemicals can have much wider health effects on fish than we expected,” Tyler explained. “Using specially created transgenic fish that allow us to see responses to these chemicals in the bodies of fish in real time, for example, we have shown that estrogens found in some plastics affect the valves in the heart.”
Tyler revealed that the male fish, after exposure to contraceptive pills, certain plastics, and cosmetics, took on more “feminized traits,” which included a reduced sperm count and “less aggressive and competitive behavior.”
“Other research has shown that many other chemicals that are discharged through sewage treatment works can affect fish, including antidepressant drugs that reduce the natural shyness of some fish species, including the way they react to predators,” Tyler added.
The findings of Tyler’s study claimed that over 200 chemicals found in sewage treatment plants were directly correlated to “estrogen-like” effects.
Tyler is set to speak at the 50th Anniversary Symposium of the Fisheries Society in the British Isles at Exeter University from July 3 to July 7.
Gender-bender fish: Flushed contraceptive chemicals causing dramatic hormone changes in UK fish.
By: Sophie Jamieson
Telegraph, UK
Source: https://www.sott.net/article/355420-Gender-bender-fish-Flushed-contraceptive-chemicals-causing-dramatic-hormone-changes-in-UK-fish
A fifth of male fish are now transgender because of chemicals from the contraceptive pill being flushed down household drains, a study by has suggested.
Male river fish are displaying feminised traits and even producing eggs, the study found. Some have reduced sperm quality and display less aggressive and competitive behaviour, which makes them less likely to breed successfully.
The chemicals causing these effects include ingredients in the contraceptive pill, by-products of cleaning agents, plastics and cosmetics, according to the findings.
Professor Charles Tyler, of the University of Exeter, is to present his findings in a key-note lecture at a symposium this week. He will explain that the offspring of such “transgender” or “intersex” fish can also be more sensitive to the effects of these chemicals in subsequent exposures.
Professor Tyler said: “We are showing that some of these chemicals can have much wider health effects on fish that we expected.
“Using specially created transgenic fish that allow us to see responses to these chemicals in the bodies of fish in real time, for example, we have shown that oestrogens found in some plastics affect the valves in the heart.”
Tests showed 20 per cent of male freshwater fish, such as roach, at 50 sites had feminine characteristics.
More than 200 chemicals from sewage plants have been identified with oestrogen-like effects and drugs such as antidepressants are also altering fish’s natural behaviour, his study found.
“Other research has shown that many other chemicals that are discharged through sewage treatment works can affect fish, including antidepressant drugs that reduce the natural shyness of some fish species, including the way they react to predators,” Professor Tyler said.
Professor Tyler will present his findings in the opening lecture of the 50th Anniversary Symposium of the Fisheries Society in the British Isles at Exeter University from July 3 to 7.
Dr Steve Simpson, who has organised the symposium, said the week of talks would give “fish biologists from around the world a chance to exchange ideas and discuss how to protect dwindling fish populations in rapidly changing seas and rivers, before it is too late.”
Other research to be discussed at the event includes how the destruction of coral reefs and their distinctive sounds means fish are getting lost in the water, how fish are shrinking because of climate change and how power cables can disrupt how fish find sexual partners.
Studies that have attempted to assess the prevalence of transgenderism in the population have been methodologically complicated by changing diagnostic criteria and terminology, the level of cultural acceptance of transgender individuals in the time and place in which the studies occurred, and access to clinical care settings for transgender patients.11 The vast majority of studies have been performed in the Western world (mainly Europe), with fewer studies performed in the East, and have shown widely variable prevalence of transgenderism, ranging from 0.45 to 23.6 per 100,000 people.11–13 A systematic review and meta-analysis of the available literature by Arcelus et al. showed an overall prevalence of transgenderism of 4.6 in 100,000 people; 6.8 transgender women (transwomen, assigned male sex at birth, feminine gender identity) in 100,000 people, and 2.6 transgender men (transmen, assigned female sex at birth, masculine gender identity) in 100,000 people (2.6:1 ratio of transwomen to transmen), with the overall prevalence increasing over the past 50 years.11 As data collection methods improve, more rigorous studies need to be undertaken to assess the prevalence of transgender people in the general population outside of clinical care settings.
Tonya N. Thomas, in Comprehensive Care of the Transgender Patient, 2020
Only a decade ago transgenderism was considered a psychiatric disease and was classified as “gender identity disorder.” That term has been recently replaced by “gender dysphoria” and no longer appears in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DMS-5) as a mental illness.26
Dov Feldberg, in Principles of Gender-Specific Medicine (Third Edition), 2017
The Negative Effects of the Pill—And of All Hormonal Birth Control
By HLI Staff 2021-07-09
Source: https://www.hli.org/resources/negative-effects-of-the-pill/
The Pill: A Hormonal Method of Birth Control
The class of hormonal methods of birth control include birth control pills; implants such as Norplant, Jadelle and Implanon; injectables such as Depo-Provera and Lunelle; intrauterine devices (IUDs), patches and rings, and, of course, the class of abortion pills and so-called emergency “contraception,” which includes Cytotec, ellaOne, Mifegyne, Mifeprix, Plan B and Misoprostol.
All of these contain either one or a combination of artificial progestins and artificial estrogens.1
Health Issues Caused Hormonal Contraception
Though feminist groups and the mainstream media typically present hormonal contraceptives as a boon for women, they overlook the serious side effects reported in mainstream scientific literature, either through deliberate intent or negligence. Women who regularly ingest the powerful steroids in all modern hormonal methods of birth control will find that they usually suffer a wide range of side effects.
This should come as no surprise since hormonal birth control methods such as “the Pill” are listed as carcinogens (causes of cancer) by their own manufacturers.2
The patient information pamphlets for hormonal birth control methods list a long range of side effects, including:3
- Heart attacks
- Cancers
- Anaphylaxis
- Sudden total or partial blindness
- Pulmonary embolisms
- Early unintended abortion
- High blood pressure
- Dizziness and fainting
- Abdominal discomfort, bloating, and pain
- Gall bladder problems, including gallstones
- Inflammation of the pancreas
- Nausea and vomiting
- Fluid accumulation
- Long-term hormonal regulation problems
- Ectopic pregnancies
- Insulin sensitivity
- Elevated potassium levels
- Migraines or severe headaches
- Depression and mood swings
- Breast pain and swelling
- Changes in menstruation patterns, e.g., PMS and dysmenorrhea
- Acne
- Rashes
- Stroke
- Hair loss
- Loss of libido
- Fatigue
- Significant weight gain
- Fatal blood clots
One of the most serious negative effects of the Pill and other hormonal methods of birth control is the increased risk of deep vein thrombosis, or blood clots that can potentially be fatal.
According to the Journal of Pharmacology and Pharmaco-therapeutics, some versions of the Pill increase the risk of deep vein thrombosis up to eight-fold:4
Among the other various negative effects of the hormonal methods is difficulty regulating a woman’s testosterone levels even when she no longer uses the method. Researchers have found that abnormally low amounts of unbound testosterone caused by the use of the Pill (or other methods of hormonal birth control) persist after women cease using it. Women’s bodies use testosterone, as men’s do, to regulate sexual function, though in far lower amounts. Report coauthor Dr. Irwin Goldstein clarified: “This work is the culmination of 7 years of observational research in which we noted in our practice many women with sexual dysfunction who had used the oral contraceptive but whose sexual and hormonal problems persisted despite stopping the birth control pill.”5
Primary Concern: Cancer
The hormonal methods of birth control increase the risk of cancer in women of childbearing age.
When taking hormonal contraceptives, “teenagers are especially vulnerable to breast cancer risk because their breasts are growing,” reports the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute. The Institute also says that although the Pill lowers the risk of ovarian and endometrial cancers, “according to the American Cancer Society, out of [a random selection of] 100 women with cancer, 31 have breast cancer, 6 have endometrial cancer and only 3 have ovarian cancer, so it is not a good ‘trade-off’ in risk.”
The National Cancer Institute confirms this view by stating that “studies have provided consistent evidence that the risks of breast and cervical cancers are increased in women who use oral contraceptives, whereas the risks of endometrial, ovarian, and colorectal cancers are reduced.”6
Psychological Impacts
Elizabeth Lee Vliet, MD, a women’s health specialist and the author of It’s My Ovaries, Stupid!, has studied the birth control pill’s negative impacts on women’s moods, with a particular emphasis on high-progesterone formulations. She found that they “might even bring about the need for antidepressants: The Pill screws up a woman’s mood and libido, and then she ends up on Prozac.”7
Dr. Vliet’s opinion is reinforced by the manufacturers of the hormonal methods themselves. Their patient information pamphlets list depression and nervousness as psychiatric disorders caused by their methods.8
These methods directly influence the hormonal cycle in women, but their impacts go far beyond mood swings. One of the most interesting studies done on the health impacts of the hormonal methods found that they may cause women to begin a relationship with the wrong men.
A study published in the August 2008 edition of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B found that when women smelled the T-shirts worn by men, they were attracted to more genetically dissimilar men before going on the Pill, and more genetically similar men after going on it.
As evolutionary psychologist Craig Roberts, one of the researchers, explains, “Not only could [genetic] similarity in couples lead to fertility problems but it could ultimately lead to the breakdown of relationships when women stop using the contraceptive pill, as odor perception plays a significant role in maintaining attraction to partners.”9
This fascinating study has thus found that the negative effects of the Pill are not just physical, but social as well, and may subtly influence a woman into being attracted to “Mr. Wrong.”
Environmental Poisoning
Much of the female hormonal content in these birth control methods is excreted via urine and ends up in rivers and lakes. Scientists are finding ever-greater numbers of “intersex” animals in aquatic environments that could lead to a collapse in fish and other populations, followed by a collapse in the populations of animals dependent upon them.
In 2004, The Washington Post reported that 79% of the male smallmouth bass in the Potomac River are growing eggs.10 In certain places, said the Post, “100% of the male fish had some female characteristics.”
A later Washington Post article described how scientists said the cause “is probably some pollutant created by humans — perhaps a farm chemical, or treated sewage, which can contain human hormones or residue from birth-control pills.” The later Post article reported that scientists think the problem is caused by a mixture of hormone and hormone-mimicking pollutants and have found negative effects on female fish as well.11
Iain Murray, author of The Really Inconvenient Truths, wrote on National Review Online, “By any standard typically used by environmentalists, the pill is a pollutant. It does the same thing, just worse, as other chemicals they call pollution.”
Early Abortion
Though the hormonal methods of contraception, including the Pill, appear to act the great majority of the time in preventing conception by suppressing ovulation and inhibiting sperm transport through the woman’s body, at other times they cause abortion by preventing or disrupting the implantation of an already-conceived child.
In some women, the Pill suppresses ovulation completely. But if the method fails, conception may follow and the user may feel that because she intended not to have a child, and because “technology failed her,” that she is entitled to a surgical or medical abortion.
Conclusion
The negative effects of the hormonal methods range from headaches and hair loss to fatal diseases such as cancer and deep-vein thrombosis. They also impact other people and society in general through psychological problems of the users and the environmental pollution they cause. In summary, these methods not only harm women, they harm the rest of us as well.
HLI’s Brian Clowes contributed substantially to this article.
Endnotes
[1] The chemicals used in hormonal methods of birth control commonly include one of about a dozen different artificial progestins — cyproterone acetate, dienogest, desogestrel, drospirenone, ethynodiol diacetate, etonogestrel, gestodene, levonorgestrel, medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), norelgestromin, norethindrone, norethindrone acetate and norgestrel. All of the methods (except for the progestin-only minipill and some other methods such as IUDs, implants and abortion pills) also include the artificial estrogens ethinyl estradiol or estradiol cypionate. See the patient information pamphlets for each method to determine the exact combination of hormones they contain.
[2] Review of 1,346 patient information pamphlets on various hormonal methods of birth control distributed by the manufacturers. The National Cancer Institute (NIC) states, “The risks of breast and cervical cancers are increased in women who use oral contraceptives, whereas the risks of endometrial, ovarian, and colorectal cancers are reduced.”
[3] This example is Janssen Pharmaceuticals, “Micronor®” Oral Contraceptive Tablets, May 2020. Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, “Highlights of Prescribing Information: Yasmin,” April 2012.
To see the patient information pamphlet for any hormonal birth control method, visit the National Institute for Health’s DailyMed website.
[4] Kiran G. Piparva and Jatin G. Buch. “Deep Vein Thrombosis in a Woman Taking Oral Combined Contraceptive Pills.” Journal of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapeutics, Volume 2, Number 3 [July-September 2011], pages 185 and 186.
[5] Claudia Panzer, M.D., et.al. “Impact of Oral Contraceptives on Sex Hormone‐Binding Globulin and Androgen Levels: A Retrospective Study in Women with Sexual Dysfunction.” The Journal of Sexual Medicine, Volume 3, Issue 1 [January 1, 2006], pages 104 to 113.
[6] National Cancer Institute. “Oral Contraceptives and Cancer Risk.” February 22, 2018. It should be noted that the National Cancer Institute also says that breast cancers and cervical cancers are much more common than endometrial, ovarian, and colorectal cancers.
[7] Rachael Combe, M.D. “Sexual Chemistry.” Elle, September 2005.
[8] Janssen Pharmaceuticals, “Micronor®” Oral Contraceptive Tablets, May 2020.
[9] University of Liverpool. “Contraceptive Pill Influences Partner Choice.” ScienceDaily, August 13, 2008.
[10] David A. Fahrenthold. “Male Bass in Potomac Producing Eggs.” The Washington Post, October 15, 2004.
[11] David A. Fahrenthold. “‘Human Activity’ Blamed for Fish Ills.” The Washington Post, February 8, 2008, page B03.
