How Paracetamol Could Harm Your Unborn Child ; Health Fitness MEDICAL NOTES

PREGNANT women taking paracetamol could be harming their unborn babies, according to research suggesting that use of the drug during pregnancy may account for as many as one in 15 cases of childhood asthma.

Paracetamol is the preferred painkiller for pregnant women, at least half of whom take it at some stage, but researchers reviewing the 8,500 families being followed in the Children of the Nineties study have discovered that it may not be as safe as we thought.

Children born to women who took the drug “sometimes” after the 20th week of pregnancy were a fifth more likely to go on to develop asthma – a risk that tripled in those whose mothers took the painkiller “most days or daily”.

The reason behind the link remains unclear, but the study’s lead author, Dr Seif Shaheen, of King’s College, London, has suggested that the paracetamol could damage the unborn babies’ developing lungs and immune systems.

The findings are bound to worry pregnant women, who will be looking for guidance from their midwives and doctors. More research is needed to clarify the relationship between paracetamol and asthma, but in the meantime pregnant women should continue to avoid all medication unless absolutely necessary, and that should now include paracetamol, particularly in the last five months of pregnancy.

Aspirin and ibuprofen are NOT suitable substitutes for paracetamol – neither should be taken in pregnancy, unless specifically prescribed by a doctor (low-dose aspirin may be used to prevent recurrent miscarriage in some women).

The full study is published in Clinical and Experimental Allergy, the official journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology www.bsaci.org

and another painkiller is phased out

THE Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is expected to announce a phased withdrawal of the prescription-only painkiller co-proxamol (Distalgesic) today, amid concerns about the dangers of overdose.

Four hundred people die every year from coproxamol overdose, either accidental or intentional, and it accounts for around one in 20 suicides.

The drug, a mix of paracetamol and a synthetic morphine-type narcotic used to treat mild to moderate pain, won’t be missed by most GPs. It used to be one of the most widely prescribed drugs in the UK but has fallen out of favour recently in light of evidence that shows it is no better at relieving pain than paracetamol, yet far more dangerous in overdose.

The MHRA is likely to advise that doctors stop putting any new patients on the drug, and switch to safer alternatives for the hundreds of thousands of people already taking it (eight million prescriptions were issued for co-proxamol last year).

If you are on the drug, you should continue to take it until your GP offers a substitute (in most cases, this will be done automatically via the practice computer and you will not need to be seen).

And don’t throw unwanted supplies away: take them to your local pharmacist for safe disposal.

Doctor in the bar

MY item last week on Government plans to rethink advice on sensible drinking prompted a number of tongue-in-cheek suggestions from readers, who thought that doctors are the last people who should be giving advice on sensible drinking.

The medical profession does have a reputation for heavy drinking, but new research, due to be published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, suggests it is illfounded.

Researchers following 12,000 British doctors over the past 23 years found that the average alcohol consumption of those who drank was 2-3 units a day (within the current guidelines), and that the drinkers were significantly less likely to die prematurely, or develop heart or lung disease, than the teetotallers.

A simple way to spot heart risks

A BRITISH company has come up with a simple but effective way of predicting the odds of developing heart disease. CardioTrack uses a probe on the finger to measure arterial stiffness, a sign of thickening of the lining of arteries which predisposes to heart disease and stroke.

At the moment, doctors use computer programs to predict the risk of developing heart disease, based on factors such as smoking and cholesterol levels that are known to accelerate arterial damage.

But having the risk factors doesn’t necessarily mean you have the damage, and, conversely, not having them doesn’t mean that you are safe, either – which is why some smokers live to 90 without a problem, while apparently healthy athletes can sometimes drop dead in their forties.

The machine will ascertain your vascular age (how old your arteries are compared to your chronological age) and come up with an absolute measure of stiffness. Ideally, you want to have arteries that appear younger than they are, with minimal stiffness.

Anyone can operate the Pounds 2,250 machine and it is likely to become commonplace in screening clinics and health clubs.

For more details on the machine – including clinics and clubs offering tests – visit www.cardiocheck.co.uk or call 020 7754 5454.