Hormonal Contraceptives Harmful after Childbirth
The World Health Organization (WHO) has updated its recommendations regarding the safety of combined hormonal contraceptives among postpartum non–breast-feeding women. Researchers have found that women in the first 42 days of the postpartum period have a 22-fold to 84-fold increased risk for VTE (venous thromboembolism) that are also known as blood clots. Based on this research, the new WHO guidelines were therefore more restrictive concerning use of combined hormonal contraceptives during the first 42 days after delivery, especially in women who had other risk factors for VTE. The new recommendations state that any form of hormonal contraceptive is NOT recommended during the first three weeks after childbirth and is discouraged during the 3-6th weeks after childbirth.
Medscape Education Clinical Briefs, 2011-07-12
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New FDA Report: Abortion Drug Kills 14 Women, Injures 2,200
The Food and Drug Administration has quietly released a new report about the deaths of and injuries to women from the dangerous RU 486 abortion drug and the Obama administration has done nothing to make the information available to women.
Following its approval during the Clinton administration, the FDA released a report in 2006 that received widespread attention for showing more than 1,100 women had been subjected to “adverse effects” resulting from their taking the abortion drug mifepristone, commonly known a RU 486. Pro-life advocates have waited five years for the FDA to come out with a new report of problems associated with the drug — despite mounting evidence that the abortion drug continues to kill and injure women across the globe.
The FDA, with no fanfare, has released a new report, dated April 30, 2011. The report indicates 14 women in the United States alone have died from using the mifepristone abortion drug and 2,207 women have been injured by it.
Of the women experiencing medical and physical problems resulting from the abortion drug, 612 women required hospitalizations, 339 experienced blood loss significant enough to require a transfusion, 256 experienced infections and 48 women experienced what the FDA labeled as “severe infections.” Given that the RU 486 abortion drug caused sepsis, a potentially lethal infection that resulted in the deaths of women from around the world, the “serious infections” were very likely life-threatening situations.
“Severe infections generally involve death or hospitalization for at least 2-3 days, intravenous antibiotics for at least 24 hours, total antibiotic usage for at least 3 days, and any other physical or clinical findings, laboratory data or surgery that suggest a severe infection,” the FDA report states.
http://www.lifenews.com/2011/07/12/new-fda-report-abortion-drug-kills-14-women-injures-2200/ |
Possible Link between Anti-Depressants and Autism
July 6, 2011 — Use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) by pregnant women may increase the risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in their offspring, new research suggests.
In a study of more than 1800 children, investigators found an adjusted 2-fold increased risk for ASD among mothers who used an SSRI during the year before delivery and a 3-fold increased risk when SSRIs were ingested during the first trimester.
"The potential association between use of antidepressants during pregnancy and risk of [ASDs] has never been investigated before," lead author Lisa A. Croen, PhD, senior research scientist and director of the Autism Research Program at Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) in Oakland.
Reported in Medscape Medical News, 2011-07-06
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Prevention of PCOS in Teen Population
July 1, 2011 — Metformin may prevent or delay the development of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in adolescence, according to the results of a randomized, open-label study published online June 1 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
"PCOS often presents in adolescence, with irregular menstrual cycles, acne, or too much body hair," lead study author Lourdes Ibáñez, MD, PhD, professor of pediatrics at the University of Barcelona in Spain, said in a news release. "But we believe the critical years for PCOS development may be during childhood and puberty when excessive amounts of fat are stored. That excessive weight gain overexposes the ovaries to insulin, causing them to stop ovulating and start releasing male hormones, resulting in PCOS."
"Metformin, when given across the potentially critical window of puberty, may have the capacity to reprogram metabolism toward less abdominal and liver fat," Dr. Ibáñez said. "In the years ahead, the focus of attention should shift from late treatment of PCOS and its complications, toward the early and large-scale prevention of PCOS, with measures such as diet, exercise and metformin in young girls."
Reported Medscape Medical News July 1, 2011. |
