Popular Premature Labour Drug Is Useless

A popular drug used in treating women who have gone into premature labour is useless, research has found.

The study, conducted by Stanford University Medical Center, found no basic health benefits from administering nifedipine in such circumstances.

In fact, the same levels of improvement were found in patients who were given a placebo as were observed in those treated with nifedipine.

The institution explains that the drug was originally designed to act as a muscle relaxant for hypertensive individuals.

But it was subsequently adopted to help calm the uterus in women who had entered premature labour.

Now, however, the researchers suggest that the lack of basic health benefits render the drug pointless even when used for a prolonged period.

And while side effects are rare, they argue that they should not even be risked when the drug seemingly has no positive effects.

In other recent research into the treatment of premature babies, a discovery was made by Washington University School of Medicine which may seem even more alarming to many parents.

The educational facility found that glucocorticoids, which are sometimes used to treat lung infections in premature babies, can be linked with brain damage in tests run on mice.