IUDs linked to lower risk of cervical cancer

Women who use intrauterine devices (IUDs) for contraception might have a lower risk of cervical cancer than their counterparts who do not use this form of birth control, a recent study suggests.

The study by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California involved the examination of data from 16 previously published studies involving 4,945 women who had cervical cancer and 7,537 women who did not. Overall, the researchers found that women who used an IUD were 36 per cent less likely to get cervical cancer than those who did not use them.