Back in January a study was published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine suggesting that oral contraception could produce an irreversible hormonal effect that can lead to sexual dysfunction, with a focus on reduced libido. This study received a flurry of media attention, but very little critical analysis.

Lowering levels of sexual desire is something that anecdotally is reported by many women who use the birth control pill. Women’s health activists have, for years, been calling attention to the possible problems, and large gaps in knowledge, regarding the pill.

What is frustrating is that each time a new study comes out, proposing another effect of the pill, it is reported on as if it is the unequivocal truth. This happened in 2004 when a study was released claiming the pill reduced the risk of heart disease, stroke and some cancers. This same study was later highly criticized, and referred to by the National Women’s Health Network as highly flawed and “unscientific”.

Addressing the flaws of the current research, researchers John Bancroft, Geoffrey Hammond, and Cynthia Graham have a letter to the editor in the most recent issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine. They point out several flaws in the methodology of the original study, and also reference research of their own that seems to contradict this study’s conclusions. While they don’t discount the possibility that the pill may create an irreversible effect, they point out that there simply is not the science to make that claim, and that caution and further research are needed more than flashy headlines.

On the one hand, this seems to be a question of who do you trust for information regarding your health. But more is going on behind the scenes than this. In the increasingly competitive world of corporately funded academic research, the pressure is often on to grab headlines. The result can sometimes be reasonable, but early, research being presented as having more significance than it really does. This clearly seems to be the case with the recent oral contraception study.

Read more – Do Oral Contraceptives Produce Irreversible Effects on Women’s Sexuality? (subscription required)

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