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The hormone progesterone
can help prevent premature births in a large number of high-risk
pregnancies.
The study found
that 306 women who were injected with 17-alpha-hydroxprogesterone
caproate (17P), a derivative of the hormone progesterone,
once a week had a reduced risk--by 34 percent--of premature
birth, or birth before the 37th week of pregnancy. The risk
of pre-term birth prior to 32 weeks was reduced by 42 percent.
All of the women, including an additional 153 women who were
injected with a placebo, had given birth prematurely in the
past--the biggest indication of risk.
African American
and non-African American women benefited equally from the
treatment.
Progesterone, which
is naturally produced by the ovaries, has been prescribed
for years to help infertile and menopausal women. Earlier
small studies had suggested that 17P therapy could help prevent
pre-term birth, but no large trial had ever been conducted.
Researchers had
planned to enroll 500 women in the study, however stopped
the study short because of the dramatic results of the progesterone.
The number of
premature babies born in the United States has reportedly
risen 27 percent from 1981 to 2001. One in eight babies were
born prematurely in 2001.
Researchers plan
to conduct a follow-up study to examine whether 17P, an omega-3
fatty acid or a placebo influences premature birth among women
already at risk. Omega-3 deficiency has previously been linked
to an increased risk of pre-term births.
Annual
meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine February
6, 2003
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