Popular Preterm Labor Drug Terbutaline Can Expose Brain to Pesticide Injury

[Guest guest]

Terbutaline (also known as Brethine and Bricanyl) is a drug commonly

used to stop pre-term labor, prolong pregnancy and therefore prevent

premature birth. About 1 million women are treated with terbutaline

and related drugs every year for this purpose.

 

However, terbutaline is actually an asthma drug that has been approved

by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (it was first approved in

1974) to prevent and treat wheezing and troubled breathing caused by

asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema or other lung diseases. It works

by relaxing and opening the air passages of the lungs, and it's

thought that it also relaxes the muscles of the uterus during pre-term

labor.

 

The popular pre-term labor drug terbutaline may make your baby's brain

more susceptible to injury from pesticides.

 

Although terbutaline is a popular pre-term labor drug, it is not FDA

approved for that purpose, which means it's used " off label. "

 

There is some controversy already surrounding the use of this drug,

with some doctors believing it's an effective way to stop pre-term

labor, and others concerned that it may not be safe or that it doesn't

work any better than placebo. And, back in 1997, the FDA issued a

letter " alerting practitioners, home health care agencies, insurance

carriers, and others that continuous subcutaneous administration of

terbutaline sulfate has not been demonstrated to be effective and is

potentially dangerous. "

 

Double Exposure: Terbutaline and Pesticides

 

However, a recent study has raised a new concern that the drug may be

affecting the unborn baby's brain development. The study, published in

the March 2004 issue of Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, found

that the drug might leave the brains of children especially

susceptible to damage from environmental chemicals like pesticides.

Specifically, rats that were exposed to terbutaline had greater brain

cell damage after being exposed to the insecticide chlorpyrifos than

rats not given the drug.

 

It had previously been suggested that children whose mothers had

received terbutaline suffered from cognitive deficits, and researchers

believe these findings may explain that suggestion, as the brain

region damaged in the rats is known to affect learning and memory.

 

" Our findings suggest that exposure to drugs like terbutaline early in

development can leave individuals set on a hair trigger for further

problems when subsequently faced with environmental chemicals, " says

senior author of the study Theodore Slotkin, PhD, professor of

pharmacology and cancer biology at Duke.

 

Slotkin also pointed out that these sensitive subgroups should be

taken into consideration when safe levels of household and

environmental chemicals are determined. " It is not adequate to set the

allowable concentrations for certain chemicals at levels that might be

unsafe for large segments of the population, " he says.

 

Leading a " clean " lifestyle can be beneficial for you and your family.

 

Young children typically receive the highest exposures of

environmental contaminants such as pesticides because they crawl on

the ground and put their hands and other objects in their mouths.

 

Further, children consume a greater volume of food (and water)

relative to their body weight, which also often contains pesticides.

Alarmingly, Slotkin says that studies show virtually every school-aged

child has been exposed to chlorpyrifos.

 

" It is increasingly clear that environmental toxicants target specific

human subpopulations, " says Slotkin. If your mother may have received

terbutaline for pre-term labor, or if you have a child who was exposed

to this drug in the womb, it's therefore especially important that you

lead a " clean " lifestyle. This includes:

 

*Keeping your home, yard and surroundings free from pesticides,

insecticides and other similar chemicals (choose chemical-free

varieties from your health food store instead).

 

*Eating organic foods (they don't contain pesticides), including

organic meats, dairy products, and eggs

 

*Avoiding exposure to community-wide pesticides, such as those used in

mosquito fogging or farming.

 

*Filtering your tap water to keep out any pesticides or similar

chemicals it may contain.

 

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