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Dr. Suzanne Sorof
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VIDEO: Dr. Sorof – Taking Birth Control, Does It Affect A Woman’s Heart?

Dr. Sorof explains how the birth control pill can affect a woman’s heart.

Dr. Sorof:
The birth control pill, especially if somebody who smokes, could make a woman get blood clots. It’s, something is triggered by the tobacco and what’s in the cigarette smoke that causes people to get clotting and so we don’t recommend people who are over 35, who are smoking to be on any hormones or birth control pills at all.

If you are over 35 and you smoke and you are on hormone replacement or birth control pills it’s very important to communicate with your doctor and be honest with them about your smoking history because that will change how they recommend you proceed. It really is not recommended to be on the hormones if you are a smoker.

If you are in the process of quitting then what you can do is come off the medicine and then once you are completely finished and have quit smoking then you can discuss with the provider to restart the birth control pills. But really it is not recommended because we do see an increased number of blood clots and they can form anywhere in the body – in the legs, in the lungs, in the heart, and they can cause people to die.

About Dr. Sorof, M.D.:
Dr. Suzanne Sorof, M.D., is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Cardiology and Internal Medicine. She earned her medical degree at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She also completed her residency in Internal Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine Affiliated Hospitals Residency Program. Dr. Sorof completed her cardiology fellowship at MetroHealth Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. She then completed a fellowship in interventional cardiology at Virginia Commonwealth University, Medical College of Virginia Hospitals in Richmond, Virginia. Dr. Sorof has extensive training and experience in all aspects of clinical cardiology as well as cardiac and peripheral intervention.

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