| OCR Text |
Show Shield Against Arthritis By PHYLLIS WEAVER Copley News Service Did you know that the "pill" protects against arthritis? SURVEYS OME and surveys sur-veys go, and it seems that a researcher can find a situation situa-tion to fit almost any hypothesis. We're familiar with the reports that birth control pills uii cause circulatory problems such as high-blood high-blood pressure or blood clots. We've read that the pill can cause or predispose a woman to some types of cancer. NOW it's been found that among women who use birth control pills only half as many have rheumatoid arthritis as women who have never taken the pill. Of the varying forms of arthritis, rheumatoid is the most serious, painful and crippling. Three-fourths of the victims in the United States are women. This does not mean that all women who use oral contraceptives con-traceptives will have this protection from rheumatoid arthritis. Nor does it mean the non-pill user will have it, necessarily. But the survey did show that of women on the pill, their chances of having rheumatoid arthritis are one in 3,000. |
