Drug Therapy During Pregnancy

Drug Therapy During Pregnancy is a collection of papers dealing with the risks and benefits of drug treatment for both mother and fetus. One paper notes that the total use of medication during pregnancy in the Netherlands has decreased from 82.7 % to 71.7 %. The paper also points out the lack of a relationship between the number or type of congenital anomalies and the use of medication. Another paper assesses fetal drug exposure in two ways: firstly, through the physicochemical characteristics of the drug and the way it is handled by the mother in order to estimate placental passage and fetal exposure. Secondly, through the utilization of pharmacokinetic models estimating the probable time course of drug concentrations in the feto-maternal unit. One paper investigates the effects of hypertension during pregnancy, in which the etiology of hypertension, a group of disorders with one common abnormality, remains unsolved with a clinical diagnosis that is not always accurate. Treatment differs widely depending on the type: chronic hypertension, albuminuric hypertension, and hypertensive crises during pregnancy. One paper suggests that to prove any environmental exposure to a particular substance affecting pregnancy, the exact timing of exposure must be established, large samples are necessary, possibly on a national or international scale. The paper cites as example the four-year documentation period of the 50% to 80% incidence of malformations due to thalidomide. General medicine practitioners, obstetricians, gynecologists, and researchers dealing with pharmacology, pharmocokinetics, toxicology, or embryology will find the collection valuable.