Pregnant women who take ibuprofen could harm the fertility of their unborn baby girls, a study has warned.
Taking the tablets for just two to seven days within the first three months could lead to a short period of fertility, early menopause or infertility in their girls.
And even if women stop taking the painkiller, the damage is irreversible.
The study suggested the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug taken in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy may reduce the store of eggs in the ovaries of their daughters.
The study was the first evidence in human ovarian tissue that ibuprofen exposure during the crucial first part of foetal development resulted in a “dramatic loss” of the germ cells.
These go into making the follicles from which female eggs develop and either died or failed to grow and multiply at the usual rate following exposure in the womb.
Scientists said the findings raised concerns.
Lead author Dr Séverine Mazaud-Guittot at INSERM in Rennes, who was assisted by researchers at Edinburgh University, said: “Baby girls are born with a finite number of follicles in their ovaries and this defines their future reproductive capacity as adults. A poorly stocked reserve will result in a shortened reproductive life span, early menopause or infertility.”
Three in 10 women take ibuprofen in the first three months of pregnancy.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here