IUDs that contain more hormones would present a greater risk of depressive disorders, but this is still “low,” the National Medicines Agency (ANSM) warned on Tuesday after the publication of a study in that direction.
An intrauterine device (IUD) or intrauterine device with hormones is a contraceptive method whose duration of action is 5 years in most cases. It locally diffuses levonorgestrel, a synthetic progestin hormone that thickens cervical mucus between the vagina and uterus.
It is this thickening that blocks the passage of sperm and provides contraception.
As with all hormonal contraceptives, the use of such a contraceptive may be associated with a risk of depression or mood disorders, recalls the ANSM.
The consumption of psychotropic drugs as an indicator
To assess whether these risks depend on the dose of levonorgestrel, the EPI-PHARE scientific interest group (GIS) created by ANSM and Cnam studied the use of psychotropic drugs (antidepressants, anxiolytics and hypnotics) in the two years following insertion. from the IUD, dosed with 52 mg or 19.5 mg levonorgestrel.
The results of this epidemiological study, published in December in the Jama Network journal, show that women with IUDs with a higher dose of levonorgestrel (52 mg) have a slightly increased risk of using antidepressants (+13%) in the two years following IUD insertion compared to an IUD with a lower dose of progestin. On the other hand, the study did not show an increase in the use of anxiolytics or hypnotics.
“The risks are low, even very low,” Isabelle Yoldjian, ASNM’s medical director, told AFP. “This information does not allow for a course of action to be determined, but rather to provide additional information and improve the exchange between the professional and the patient,” she added.
The two hormonal IUDs dosed at 52 mg levonorgestrel are Mirena and Donasert. The others, Kyleena and Jaydess, are less dosed (19.5 mg and 13.5 mg).
Source: BFM TV
