Decongestants helpful in cutting the risk of premature birth--study

The study leader and epidemiologist at the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH), Rohini Hernandez, said in a press release:

“Maybe this can provide some clues as to how to prevent preterm delivery. The more we can learn about what could potentially cause preterm birth would help our understanding in how to stop it."

"Medication use is a major concern for pregnant women and generally, when medications are found to have effects on the foetus, they're usually found to have adverse effects. This was surprising in that a potentially beneficial effect was found," added Hernandez.

This new research's results are published in the online journal 'Birth Defects Research Part A: Clinical and Molecular Teratology' ahead of print publication.

How research study was conducted
To know more about the relation between over the counter decongestant use and premature birth in women, a team of researchers thoroughly analyzed the data collected from 3,271 births, over the period of 1998 to 2008.

Researchers were surprised to find out after studying the data that the pregnant women, who reported to have taken over the counter decongestants in their second or third trimester, were 58 percent less likely to give birth prematurely.

However, same cannot be said about those expecting mothers, who did not use decongestant or any other form of medication during their pregnancy.

Researchers also revealed that these results were found after observing women, who did not suffer from pre-eclampsia i.e., high blood pressure problem, during pregnancy.

The team also found out from the data that around 6 percent mum-to-be delivered premature. The majority of women, who took decongestants during pregnancy, turned out to be white, married, older, and highly-educated with higher incomes.

The study researchers also revealed, "While pregnant women are known to use decongestants, though, there are still many, who opt not to take any kind of medications during their pregnancy, as they do not want to cause some harm to the developing foetus."

In-depth research needed
Hernandez also added, though, the study results are encouraging but she believes that more research needs to be done before assuming strong relation between decongestant use and premature birth.

She further added, "Research is needed to find out what element in decongestant is responsible (if any) for reducing the preterm birth in women, who use over the counter decongestant."

So far what causes premature birth is still not known," concluded Hernandez.