Oral contraceptives are widely used for birth control and hormonal regulation, but they are not free of toxicity. Its use is associated with the development of focal nodular hyperplasia, which is a benign form of liver disease in which discontinuation of oral contraceptives is recommended. However, it is unknown whether the use of contraceptives can be associated with the development of fatty liver.
At the annual congress of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, a work carried out between 2010-2020 in women 21-45 years of age was presented, in which the possible presence of fatty liver was studied.
Women with fatty liver were compared with women without this disease with similar characteristics in terms of age, socioeconomic level, and geographic location. A total of 521,125 women with fatty liver were identified during the 10 years of the study and it was found that the use of oral contraceptives was significantly associated with the diagnosis of fatty liver.
Taking these results into account, Dr. Carreño and the doctors at the Fundación consider that women who take oral contraceptives should avoid other risk factors for the appearance of fatty liver, and so we recommend exercising (at least 3 hours per week), not consuming alcohol, not smoking and weight control.
