July 4 (Reuters) – Women who use certain over-the-counter
painkillers such as aspirin early in pregnancy may not have an
increased risk of miscarriage, according to a U.S. study.
Researchers writing in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology
looked at the possible connection between miscarriage and
non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which include
common painkillers like aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen.
Some studies have hinted at an increased miscarriage risk
among women who use NSAIDs around the time they conceive or in
early pregnancy, but other studies have failed to find a
connection.
“Our findings suggest that use of nonprescription
over-the-counter NSAIDs in early pregnancy does not put women at
increased risk of spontaneous abortion,” wrote study leader
Digna Velez Edwards from Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
Much of the evidence suggesting a risk has been based on
prescription NSAIDs, Edwards said, but most women of
childbearing age use over-the-counter NSAIDs for occasional
aches and pains.
So Edwards and her colleagues looked at use of the
over-the-counter drugs among nearly 3,000 pregnant women who
were part of a larger study.
Overall, 43 percent said they’d used the painkillers at some
point around the time they conceived or in their first six weeks
of pregnancy.
Thirteen percent of all women suffered a miscarriage during
the study, but the risk was no greater for women who’d used
NSAIDs regardless of the number of days they took the drugs, the
researchers found.
On the other hand, Edwards said, “we can never know whether
NSAIDs or any other medication are completely safe for pregnant
women.”
Ethically, researchers can’t do clinical trials where they
randomly assign pregnant women to take a medication or not.
Instead, they have to rely on studies like this one, which have
limitations such as relying on women’s memories and ability to
accurately report their NSAID use.
There are biological reasons to believe that NSAIDs could
pose a miscarriage risk, Edwards added.
The drugs affect hormone-like substances called
prostaglandins – and it’s possible they could interfere with the
normal prostaglandin changes that happen early in pregnancy. But
nobody really knows for sure.
In general, experts recommend that women limit their
medication use during pregnancy, if possible. It’s thought that
acetaminophen is the safest option for occasional pain relief
during pregnancy.
The study was partly funded by the National Institutes of
Health.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/LNknuw
(Reporting from New York by Amy Norton at Reuters Health;
editing by Elaine Lies and Bob Tourtellotte)
