Word: prostaglandin
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...taker? Its proponents, especially those hoping to make the clinic protesters vanish, agree that France's tightly controlled distribution method was devised, as a New England Journal of Medicine editorial put it, "for political rather than scientific reasons." One common yet radical suggestion is that RU 486 and prostaglandin could be sold to women as prescription drugs and taken at home. "To even suggest that you could do that is ridiculous," protests Judie Brown, president of the American Life League. That sentiment finds some support even from Baulieu. He opposes distribution by prescription because of what he calls "the cousin...
...Some prostaglandins promote inflammation, fever and pain by sensitizing nerves to other chemicals released from injured cells. Aspirin's most familiar benefits come from interfering with these noisome processes. However, prostaglandins are also responsible for stimulating the production of the stomach's protective lining of mucus, which explains why too much aspirin can cause gastric distress and bleeding. Aspirin's ability to prevent strokes and heart attacks stems from its disruption of a prostaglandin that promotes blood clotting. As for colon-cancer prevention, it is possible that aspirin inhibits substances that play a role in cell proliferation. At least...
...pregnancy-ending techniques. The drug, which is most effective if used within seven weeks of conception, prevents the hormone progesterone from being absorbed by the lining of the uterus. Without that nourishment the uterus cannot support the growth of the embedded fertilized egg, and the woman miscarries. Taken with prostaglandin, a naturally occurring substance that causes mild uterine contractions, the drug is 95% effective. Developed in 1982 by Dr. Etienne-Emile Baulieu, RU 486 has so far been used by an estimated 55,000 women in 15 countries...