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A genetic variant present in 5 percent of the population is tied to substantially lower blood levels of the active ingredient in a hormonal contraceptive implant, researchers reported this week (March 11) in Obstetrics & Gynecology. Two other, more common genetic variations also correlated with lower levels of the hormone, although not by as much. The authors say the finding may help explain why women taking some oral hormonal contraceptives sometimes get pregnant anyway.
“The biggest takeaway is that we’ve assumed for so long that if a woman taking birth control gets pregnant, then she must have done something wrong,” coauthor Aaron Lazorwitz, an obstetrician and gynecologist at the University of Colorado, tells Wired. “Instead, maybe we need to pay more attention as physicians to other things that might be going on, like genetics, so we can give better, more individualized treatment to women instead of ...
