Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by mrpg on Monday June 11 2018, @09:10AM   Printer-friendly
from the good dept.

A combination of the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol can help bring closure to some women and their families suffering from miscarriage, and reduces the need for surgical intervention to complete the painful miscarriage process. Results of a new clinical trial led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, show that while the standard drug regimen using misoprostol on its own frequently fails to complete the miscarriage, a combination of misoprostol and the drug mifepristone works much more reliably. The report is published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Each year in the United States alone approximately 1 million women have miscarriages. When the body does not expel the pregnancy tissue on its own -- the final part of a miscarriage -- women need to undergo a surgical procedure or take the drug misoprostol. Though often preferable for its convenience and privacy -- patients can take it in the comfort of their own homes -- misoprostol does not always work, and many women who use misoprostol are still left with no option but to undergo an invasive procedure they wished to avoid, prolonging an already physically and emotionally difficult situation.

"Though rarely discussed openly, miscarriage is the most common complication of pregnancy, and the public health burden is both physical and psychological. For too many women, misoprostol alone just leads to frustration. I have seen my patients suffer from the insult of the treatment failure added to the injury of the initial loss," said study lead author Courtney A. Schreiber, MD, MPH, chief of the division of Family Planning and an associate professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. "As physicians, we have to do better for these patients, and our new study shows that by combining mifepristone with misoprostol, we can."


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 11 2018, @09:51AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 11 2018, @09:51AM (#691328)

    My backpack containing a stick with my project's complete svn tree just got stolen.

    Can you set me up with a pistol? I understand that's far quicker than using this handy rope I presently have at my disposal.

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   -1  
       Offtopic=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Offtopic' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   -1