Florida ? A study presented Tuesday has found an association between long-term use of birth control pills and build-up of plaque in arteries in the neck and legs, which could be a sign of heart disease.

Even the researchers who did the study said their finding does not prove that taking the pill for years will raise the risk of a woman having a heart attack years after she stops taking oral contraception.

But doctors said the study, which was done in Belgium and presented at the American Heart Association meeting in Orlanda, is another reason for women to be vigilant about monitoring other heart disease risk factors such as smoking, cholesterol and blood pressure.

“We can’t confer cause and effect (from the study),” said Raymond Gibbons, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic who was not associated with the research. “I don’t think people should stop taking the pill, but they need to be more aware about their heart disease risk factors.”

The study found that for every 10 years a woman took oral contraception there was a 20 percent to 30 percent risk of troubling plaque on either the carotid or femoral arteries. For each year of contraceptive use, the plaque risk increased about 2 percent.