By Dr. James W. Stark

A new study was reported on today which draws the conclusion that “using hormonal contraceptives may be contributing at least in part to the rise in the rate of MS among women." Although the original research is not yet available for critical review, the researchers seemingly found that the vast majority of women who developed MS did NOT use oral contraceptives (71%). They did find that 29% of 305 newly diagnosed women had recently used oral contraception, whereas only 24% of their matched controls had. They do not provide any data on the ages of these women, pregnancy status, or a myriad of other variables that could account for this difference. Furthermore, to draw such a strong conclusion from a very small effect size in a minority of patients is premature.