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Elsevier, Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 1-2(286), p. 73-75, 2009

DOI: 10.1016/j.jns.2009.04.038

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Oral contraceptives and the risk of multiple sclerosis: A review of the epidemiologic evidence

Journal article published in 2009 by Alvaro Alonso ORCID, Cari Jo Clark
This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

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Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is more frequent in women than in men, suggesting that sex hormones could play a role in the development of MS. For this reason, several studies have assessed whether use of oral contraceptives modifies the risk of MS. In this article, we review the methodology and results of published epidemiologic studies addressing this issue. On the whole, the existing epidemiologic evidence does not support an important effect of oral contraceptive use on the risk of MS, though it does suggest that oral contraceptives might delay the onset of the disease.