Complain about a product or service

Statins May Help Prevent Miscarriages

Drugs can help reduce complications brought on by APS

October 14, 2008

• Researchers Suggest Fructose Link With High Blood Pressure • House Calls Dial Back Blood Pressure • Statins Could Prevent More Heart Attacks • High Blood Pressure Control More Elusive for Black Americans • Low Potassium May Equal High Sodium as Blood Pressure Risk • Grapes Might Help Manage Blood Pressure • Statins May Help Prevent Miscarriages • FDA Recommends No Change In Use Of Statins • Statins May Help Reduce Blood Pressure • New Guidelines for Stubborn High Blood Pressure • Study: New Blood Pressure Rx Has Fewer Side Effects • Weight Loss Found Effective in Reducing Blood Pressure • Blood Pressure Patients Ignore Recommended Diet • Study: Beetroot Juice Can Beat High Blood Pressure • How Much Sodium Is Too Much? It Depends • Blood Pressure: What You Don't Know Can Kill You • Diuretics May Be Best Blood Pressure Treatment • Researchers Find Gene Implicated in High Blood Pressure • FDA Approves New Beta Blocker • VA Study Finds Seasonal Differences in Blood Pressure • Heavy Drinking Linked To High Blood Pressure In Older Men • Yoga May Help Control Blood Pressure • High Blood Pressure Often Undiagnosed in Children, Teens • Small Amounts Of Exercise Can Lower Blood Pressure • Cocoa, Not Tea, Appears To Lower Blood Pressure • FDA Green Lights New Blood Pressure Drug • Researchers Find Chinese Herb Reduces Blood Pressure • Moderate Drinking May Be OK for Men with High Blood Pressure • High Blood Pressure Not Well Controlled Among Older Patients • Small Doses Of Exercise Can Lower Blood Pressure • Medical Experts Call for FDA Action on Salt --- • Health News

Women at risk for miscarriages or problem pregnancies may find help from statins, drugs most commonly used to lower cholesterol.

Researchers at the Hospital for Special Surgery found that statins are helpful to women who are suffering from pregnancy complications caused by antiphospholipid syndrome, a condition known as APS. Their study is published in the online version of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

In low risk pregnancies, APS is associated with a nine-fold increase in miscarriage. In high-risk pregnancies - women who have had at least three prior losses - APS is associated with a 90 percent risk of miscarriage.

"Statins may work as a treatment for women with APS-induced pregnancy complications," said Guillermina Girardi, Ph.D., associate scientist at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, who is lead author of the study. "They are drugs that have been shown to be very safe. There are a lot of women who continue to take statins through pregnancy and the drugs have not been shown to produce birth defects."

Statins do not increase the risk of bleeding like anticoagulants, the current treatment for patients with APS. Women are normally advised to discontinue most medications, including statins, during pregnancy, but Girardi says that no fetal defects have been reported in women who have continued to use statins while pregnant.

The researchers say that careful studies should be conducted to confirm the safety of statins in pregnancy in humans.

"Women that are antiphospholipid antibody positive and have a history of previous miscarriages are a good group to perform a clinical trial," Girardi said.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Share		Follow us on Twitter.