Would you take part in a clinical trial while pregnant? In the coming years, pregnant women from Ireland, New Zealand, the Netherlands and the UK will be contributing to new ground breaking research in the use of Viagra to treat low foetal growth rate.
Louise Kenny, founding Director of
INFANT (The Irish Centre for Foetal and Neonatal Translational Research), and Professor of Obstetrics at University College Cork spoke to
Newstalk this morning.
According to Prof. Kenny, "About 10 per cent of babies are born smaller than we expect and among those, 3 per cent are born critically small which can lead to health complications or even miscarriage."
Prof. Kenny's Ph.D. explored why some babies are small in the womb and she found evidence that this was largely due to the placenta not functioning correctly.
Viagra is a vasodilator meaning that the drug causes blood vessels to dilate. Just as the drug widens the veins and increases blood flow in the genital tract of men, it produces a similar effect in women. Though it doesn't seem to have the same effect on woman's sexual enjoyment.
Previously Viagra has occasionally been used for newborn babies who had trouble breathing due to constrained, tightened blood vessels in the lungs. And the drug has also been used in IVF treatment to increase blood supply to the womb.
With the extreme form of foetal growth restriction that Kenny is talking about many of the babies die in the womb before the 24 week mark. Doctors have a difficult call to make when they find that the baby is very ill in the womb. The accepted best course (where possible) is to prolong the pregnancy as long as possible though they often have to deliver the baby premature in an effort to save the baby's life.
Kenny explained that on a "one-off compassionate basis" Viagra was administered to some critically small babies with severe health complications in Canada with positive results.
Kenny's hypothesis is that Viagra could increase blood supply to the baby and help to prolong the pregnancy.
"It should only ever be used in a situation where the benefits to the baby outweigh the risk," she told
Newstalk.
The trials are being funded in NZ, Netherlands, UK and Ireland. As the condition is so rare it is essential to conduct studies in several countries simultaneously.
Prof. Kenny commends the altruism of the participants:
"Women in the trial know that the research may or may not help them but they know that the research could ultimately help others."
Beyond whether Viagra will encourage growth in critically small babies, the study also aims to discover whether babies exposed to Viagra during pregnancy grow up to be healthy.
