“DES” increases women infertility and cancers

“DES” increases women infertility and cancers

A new study has been released linking certain cancers and fertility problems among women whose mothers had used DES, a synthetic estrogen, during their pregnancy before the drug was banned in 1971. The study has already been published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine .DES or diethylstilbestrol have been prescribed to pregnant women for the belief that it will reduce complications during pregnancy.

The National Cancer Institute researchers and scientists have been following about 6,500 women including those exposed to DES numbering at about 4,600.  Researchers concluded that women born from mothers who used DES had a higher risk of developing 12 medical conditions including 5-fold increased preterm delivery risk and 2-fold infertility risk. Those women are also 40 times at risk of developing a rare form of vaginal cancer called clear cell adenocarcinoma.

The number of cases however, remains 1 for every 1,000 women, the researchers cleared out. The recently released study is a follow-up of an earlier study conducted in 1992. In the United States, DES has been first sold and prescribed to pregnant women in 1940. An estimate of 5 to 10 million pregnant mothers and babies were exposed to DES until it was totally banned. DES has various forms including cream, vaginal suppositories and pills.

Posted by George Daniels on Friday October 07 2011, 5:19 AM EST. Ref: Yahoo. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0