I’ve been taking birth control pills for a year. My mom is going through “the change” and has started taking some kind of hormone, too. It has helped her get back to normal. (Mr. Hyde is definitely making fewer appearances.) Besides that, she said it will help keep her bones strong. Will my pills do that too? If it makes any difference, I am a long distance runner. (I heard this is supposed to build strong bones.)

Recent evidence suggests that the pill may have a negative effect on bone health. If you are in your late teens or early twenties, you are still building bone. One study has shown that women in this age group who exercised while taking the pill ended up with less improvement in bone density than women who exercised and didn’t use the pill. Normally, exercise is helpful for improving bone density, so this finding was surprising. However, taking 1,000 mg of calcium per day may counteract this negative effect of the pill on bone density. The verdict is still out.