Aspirin and Pregnancy and Mothers and Smoking

Aspirin reduces the risk of complications in pregnant women with anti-phospholipids syndrome. The birth rate without complications, in women taking aspirin, has risen from 38% to 72%.

Aspirin administration significantly reduces the risk of complications in patients with anti-phospholipids syndrome, according to the research conducted by Dr. Munoz Rodriguez, who has been promoted by the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona and the Institute of Biomedical Research. The study, the results of which were published in the journal Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism, shows that aspirin consumption lowers the chances of the occurrence of venous or arterial thrombosis and abortions, complications usually related to this autoimmune disease. In particular, the rate of births without complications has increased from 38% to 72% in pregnant women who take aspirin as a preventive measure.

The research conducted by the team doctor Rodríguez Muńoz focused on one hundred patients with anti-phospholipids syndrome who underwent a follow-up period of more than four years. Specialists found that 91% of patients treated with aspirin developed new thrombosis, while the risk with those who were given aspirin was reduced to 42%.

The long-term treatment with anticoagulants was found to be even more effective: only 19% of subjects who received it were affected by new episodes of thrombosis. Aspirin has an especially good effect in pregnant women undergoing prophylactic aspirin.

The anti-phospholipids syndrome is an autoimmune disorder characterized by fatal arterial and venous thrombosis, abortions or thrombocytopenia in association with the presence of anti-phospholipids antibodies. The syndrome is considered primary if it is not associated with other underlying diseases and secondary if it appears linked to other autoimmune diseases like lupus erythematosus.

Mothers and Smoking
 
Recent studies have shown again that children of smoking mothers are more likely to have respiratory disorders, especially if the mothers smoked during their pregnancy.

The reason is that children are receiving less oxygen than necessary than usual and this can lead to complications, affecting the small airways.

The effect on the fetus is more serious and important during the first three months of pregnancy, since the airways and the lungs are made of spongy tissue in this embryonic stage.

It has also been shown that quitting smoking during pregnancy results in a less responsive reaction to sensorial stimuli of the newborn, which is essential for the development of the child's intelligence.

Viewing these results of the studies on whether to quit or not to quit smoking during pregnancy, it seems clear that it is always best not to smoke before, during and after pregnancy.