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Friday 09 June 2006
Drug warning for mothers-to-be
Doctors are likely to recommend that women planning to become pregnant stop taking a popular class of high blood pressure drugs that researchers have found may cause birth defects.
The drugs, called ACE inhibitors, were already known to be dangerous to the foetus if taken later in pregnancy. But research published in the New England Journal of Medicine has shown that defects can result from using the drugs during the first three months.
Professor Garry Jennings, director of the Baker Heart Research Institute, said women should stop taking such drugs before trying to get pregnant.
The drugs are sold in Australia under names such as Acenorm, Captohexal, Captopril and Lisinopril.
Doctors advised women to see their GP before switching medicine or abandoning treatment for high blood pressure.