Wednesday, 15 May 2013

SCIENTIFIC STUDIES AND A CLOUD OF CONFUSION



Not so long ago I almost posted an article based on a study done on valproate causing autism to children born of mothers who take them. The medication is taken by people who suffer from epilepsy.

The researchers emphasized that pregnant epilepsy sufferers should take alternative medication. They also advised that women who take the medicine should be told about risk factors to the baby should they ever fall pregnant.  In the study it is stated that although they have done experiments, more investigation will take place to ensure that their facts are indeed correct. Then they say that the medication should be avoided anyway.


Now another study that also seems to be a bit confusing is claiming that the labor inducing drug Pitocin may actually be harmful to babies. Pitocin is a synthetic form of Oxytocin that is given to pregnant women; it is meant to induce labor when they are overdue. It can also decrease difficult labor by strengthening and speeding up uterine contractions and reduce excessive blood loss after vaginal birth. The analysis done on the drug found that it is linked to newborn babies being admitted into the neonatal intensive care unit. They claim it affects the newborn’s Apgar score. The Apgar score is important in determining if a baby is healthy and if everything is normal.


At the New Orleans conference, Dr. Tsimis said that his findings are not strong enough to discourage Pitocin as a method of inducing labor. Still, he suggests that more research is warranted to examine the risk of Pitocin's side effects for newborn babies and define a much more systematic and informed process for determining when it is medically necessary to induce labor.
After all said and done we still don’t know fact from fiction, which is a bit frustrating.I guess we will await more tests and try to avoid it but in some situations(emergency) one does not have a choice but to allow the use of pitocin.

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