POVERTY STILL HAUNTS

CP’s benefits far outweigh risks

Taking the contraceptive pill (CP) does not increase a woman’s chances of developing cancer and may even reduce the risk for most women, according to a study published on bmj.com.
   However, there was an increased risk for women who used it for more than 8 years.
   Since its introduction in the early 1960s, more than 300 million women are thought to have used oral contraception. Although several studies have looked at the overall balance of cancer deaths associated with oral contraceptives, none have so far examined the absolute risks or benefits.
   Researchers from the University of Aberdeen analysed data spanning a 36 year period from the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Oral Contraception Study which began in 1968. The study recruited 46,000 women, with an average age of 29. Approximately half were using oral contraceptives; the other half had never taken it. Every six months their GP provided the study with information on the women’s health. In addition, three quarters of the women were ‘flagged’ at the NHS central registries so that deaths and cancers were notified to the study even if women had left their recruitment GP.
   Professor Philip Hannaford and colleagues used the data to calculate the risk of developing any type of cancer and the main gynaecological cancers combined. They also considered the effects of variables such as age, smoking and social class.
   Given the length of the study a significant number of GPs had not been able to provide updates throughout the entire study period, for example if a woman moved out of the area of their doctor. So Professor Hannaford and colleagues from the University of Aberdeen’s Department of General Practice and Primary Care calculated the cancer risks using two sets of data. One that related to cancers reported while the women remained registered with their recruiting GP and whose information was more detailed (GP observation dataset) The second main study dataset which was larger, also included cancers notified by the central NHS registries after women had left their recruiting GP.
   In both data sets there was no overall increased risk of cancer among pill users. When the GP observation dataset was used, women who had taken the pill at some time during their lives had a 3% reduced risk of developing any cancer. When the larger main dataset was used, the reduction was 12%. A 12% reduction equates to approximately one fewer case of cancer for every 2,200 women who have used the pill for a year and 3% equates to one fewer case of cancer for every 10,000 women. In the main dataset women on the pill had statistically significant lower rates of large bowel/rectal, uterine body and ovarian cancer. The GP dataset also showed a reduced risk of uterine and ovarian cancer.
   The researchers did sound a note of caution. When the women were examined by how long they had used the pill, women who used it for more than 8 years - less than a quarter of pill users in the study - had a statistically significant increased risk of developing any cancer, in particular cervical and central nervous system cancer. However the same women were at reduced risk of developing ovarian cancer. Evidence suggests that the protective effect of taking the pill lasts for at least 15 years after stopping.
   The authors say that many women, especially those who used the first generation of oral contraceptives many years ago, are likely to find the results reassuring:
   “In this UK cohort oral contraception was not associated with an overall increased risk of any cancer, indeed it may even produce a net public health gain.
   A study by researchers in Scotland confirms that for most women who take the contraceptive pill, the benefits far outweigh any potential risks.
   Since they were first introduced in the early 1960s more than 300 million women have used oral contraceptives.
   This latest study by researchers at Aberdeen University has analysed data over almost four decades and is one of the largest and longest follow-up studies to examine the issue.
   The study included 46,000 women followed for 36 years from the late 1960s through to 2004, when most were in their early to late 60s.
   The study began in 1968, and updates on the women’s health were provided every six months by their doctors which continued even if the women moved to a new doctor.
   The average age of the women in the study was 29 at recruitment between 1968 and 1969 and about half used oral contraceptives while the other half did not.
   The researchers were able to obtain details of whether they developed cancer, or died from National Health Service (NHS) central registries.
   The study is published in the current issue of the journal Hypertension.

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Secret Societies revisited

Rayyan Kamal

It has begun: cryptic notes being slipped under doors; mysterious e-mails being sent to promising juniors. Anonymous phone calls being made requesting the person to be at a certain place at a certain time. The senior secret societies have started looking for their successors in the junior class.
   Because there is so much mystery surrounding Yale’s unique, if antiquated, tradition, it is difficult to tease out the facts from the fiction. They were originally a way for the “most powerful and promising” members of each class – as handpicked by the class above – to get to know each other in order to maximize the future power attained by each. Originally there were fifteen members in each secret society but this number was increased by one when these societies went co-ed, so that there would be eight men and eight women. I’m not sure how many secret societies there are at Yale. I’d like to believe that some of them have remained true to the “secret” part of their name. Wikipedia, the grandfather authority of all authorities, lists eight.
   The best known secret society is, of course, Skull & Bones, which has surprisingly sustained many people’s respect the fact that our favourite president, Dubya, was a Bonesman. Anyone who has seen the recent blockbuster The Good Shepherd got a glimpse of the rituals popular culture assumes the Bonsemen to engage in. Lying naked in an open coffin and revealing your innermost secrets to the fifteen other members of your “tap class” and getting pissed on by older members as part of initiation are just two of the rather disturbing practices these people may look forward to experiencing. Of course, if myth is to be believed, all this pain is worth the future gain i.e. you’re set for life. You’ll never have to worry about money again and you’ll have to-die-for connections.
   My impression of the whole secret society scene has been slightly different and a lot less glamorous. Though I have seen people dressed in hooded robes roaming around campus at times, I find it hard to believe that they would defecate on each other (I wouldn’t bet my life on this, though). As for lying naked on a coffin and telling all, it’s probably an exaggerated version of the truth: candour and openness. I do think Secret Society members reveal their secrets to each other, but this is just as easily done clothed as it is done naked. Basically, secret societies seem like a good way for Yale students to make a new group of friends in their senior year.
   Some juniors are currently being flooded with invitations from various secret societies while the neglected majority are ruing their lack of ambition and wishing they could go back in time and redo their first three years at Yale. They would have participated in more impressive extracurricular, sucked up to the right people, in all – done more to make the Yale community more aware of how brilliant they are. In the end, though, does it really make a difference if you’re tapped or not? If you’re meant to succeed, can being snubbed here even count as an obstacle? And, if you’re meant to fail, this won’t stop that either, will it? “You sound just like someone who didn’t get any invitations,” my friend remarked when I tried to share my sagacious insight with him.
   Rayyan Kamal is a sophomore at Yale University.

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