The oral contraceptive pill, mechanisms of vascular risk, and practical prescribing strategies for women with thrombotic problems

Introduction 423 Venous thrombosis 423 Arterial thrombosis 428

Conclusions 430 References 431

Oral contraceptives have been available since the 1960s and are now used by more than 100 million women throughout the world.1 The effects of oral contraceptives continue to be of immense interest, because these are the most frequently and very often long-term used drugs by healthy women in the developed world.