According to findings of a study in an issue of Pediatrics, preemies between 28-32 weeks of age are not harmed by a treatment option that is no longer used to help in maturing lungs. The concerned study revealed that babies’ brains remain virtually unaffected; a fact that overrules the previously believed fact that repeated courses of steroids in the womb may lead to brain damage.

From News-Medical.Net:

“The consensus in recent years has been to no longer give women in preterm labor more than one course of steroids because of possible adverse effects, but it means more babies are born needing ventilation,” said Sanjiv Amin, M.D., assistant professor of Pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center and author of the study. “These findings may give us back a tool to help give these fragile babies a better chance of survival.”

Before concerns arose in 2000 about safety of multiple courses of steroids, many mothers in on-and-off preterm labor received several rounds before delivering. Now, when mothers go into preterm labor, obstetricians will often administer only a single course of steroids to help strengthen the baby’s lungs upon birth. But if the birth is successfully held off for more than seven days, the mother does not receive another course of medication and the baby’s lungs may not be protected.

It is important to note that many studies in the past have suggested that there are complications from multiple courses of dexamethasone, a steroid prepared with sulfur. This was the reason why doctors do not use dexamethasone anymore and have switched to sulfur-free steroids such as betamethasone.

It is believed that this study would provide new insights to further clinic studies in the same regard.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Tags: betamethasone, brain damage, dexamethasone, preterm labor, steroids

Posted in Steroid Cycles, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, buy steroids, steroid nation