Birth Control Shot Responsible for Weight Gain?

Here’s some news that may cause an uproar amongst women who have opted for the birth control shot. Recent research out of the University of Texas Medical Branch, also known as UTMB, has determined that women who use this type of birth control (depot medroxyprogesterone acetate, or DMPA, in case anybody was wondering) have consistently gained both fat and pounds over a three year period. Women using the shot have been found to average a total of 11 pounds gained with their body fat creeping up close to three and a half percent over that time span.

This news, however, gets better or worse depending on actions the women took after using the shot. If a woman chose to change to contraception that is nonhormonal, then she tended to lose the body fat and weight she had gained with the shot (approximately 4 pounds in a two year span); however, if a women chose to change to an oral contraception, she was more likely to gain an extra four pounds in that same span of time. Research showed that the number of pounds gained was directly related to how long a woman used DMPA as a contraceptive.

Results from this study were published in the March issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. DMPA is a contraceptive that women get injected with four times a year. Currently, there are over two million American women that use DMPA, almost a quarter of them being teenaged girls. Many women opt for DMPA because it is highly effective, is less expensive than other forms of birth control and only needs to be done four times a year, as opposed to daily like a pill. Abbey Berenson, M.D., the lead author of the study and a professor at UTMB in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology states, “Women and their doctors should factor in this new data when choosing the most appropriate birth control method. One concern is DMPA’s link to increased abdominal fat, a known component of metabolic syndrome, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and diabetes.”

The study which ranged over a three year span had over 700 female participants ranging in age from 16 to 33 who utilized one of three birth control methods (DMPA, nonhormonal contraception or oral contraception). For those participants who utilized DMPA and then decided to stop during the trial, there was an additionally follow up of two years. As the study progressed, the participants were measured for body weight and body composition and factors like consumed calories, race, age and cardiovascular exercise were all considered in the data. Amongst the three groups, those who used DMPA as birth control were two times more likely to become obese in the three years that followed. Berenson states, “The findings are worrisome; however, more research is needed to determine if DMPA use directly contributes to obesity-related conditions and puts patients’ overall health at risk.” The results of this study will help doctors and physicians be better able to advise women how various forms of contraception may affect their body, especially concerning weight gain.