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| Viagra Stops Pregnancy Disorder? |
| 2005-04-04 |
| No, not what you think....geez! The anti-impotence drug Viagra could be used to treat a pregnancy disorder which can prove fatal for mothers and babies, researchers suggest. Pre-eclampsia affects about one in 10 pregnancies, and kills up to five women and 600 babies a year in the UK. Tests on rats by a team at University of Vermont College of Medicine showed no offspring died in the pregnancies where mother rats were given Viagra. UK experts said the finding gave hope for future treatment of the condition. The US research is to be presented to the International Union of Physiological Sciences meeting in San Diego, US this week. The scientists studied rats with induced high blood pressure. Half were given Viagra, while the rest were left untreated. There were no deaths of foetuses in the pregnancies treated with Viagra, but 11% of foetuses were lost in pregnancies in untreated rats. Pre-eclampsia occurs in pregnancies where the arteries which cross through the placenta do not widen as much as they should be to take the necessary amount of blood and nutrients from the mother to the developing foetus. If this happens, the mother's body works harder to pump enough blood and nutrients through - and her blood pressure goes up. Viagra works by inhibiting the action of an enzyme called PDE-5, which prevents the expansion of arteries. The researchers found the drug did not lower blood pressure, in the rats, but it did have beneficial effects. The arteries in treated rats were much wider than those in untreated animals, allowing better circulation of blood and nutrients. The offspring from these pregnancies were also of a normal weight. Surviving offspring from untreated rats were around 20% smaller. Professor George Osol, who led the research, said more work was needed to confirm his findings. But he added: "These findings are exciting because they suggest that Viagra may have beneficial effects in hypertensive pregnancy and possibly, pre-eclampsia." |
| Posted by:Desert Blondie |
| #4 Nothing about that so far, TW...but fortunately in this case rats don't live too long so there should be some signs....maybe. Who knows? They tested thalidomide on dogs and didn't have anything wrong with the puppies, if I'm correct. |
| Posted by: Desert Blondie 2005-04-04 6:33:08 PM |
| #3 Lovely for the mother, and a significant finding... but what about side effects on the offspring? I don't think another batch of "flipper babies" would go over well in the current climate. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-04-04 4:18:00 PM |
| #2 Rats on Viagra. Is this a great country or what! |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-04-04 4:13:38 PM |
| #1 Great. So now the Spam clogging My in-box will talk about health benefits, too. |
| Posted by: Jackal 2005-04-04 4:12:23 PM |