New findings on morning sickness treatment
Duchesnay Inc. announced results from a new study concluding that pre-emptive use of Diclectin(R) is effective in reducing symptoms of severe NVP in patients at high risk for recurrence of severe NVP. The study was conducted by Gideon Koren, M.D., and Caroline Maltepe, B.A., of The Motherisk Program, Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Data will be published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and gynecology.
The randomized, controlled study recruited pregnant women who had experienced severe NVP or hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) - an extreme form of morning sickness - in a previous pregnancy. These women were instructed either to start using Diclectin(R) before NVP symptoms appeared (the pre-emptive group), or to start Diclectin(R) at the first sign of NVP symptoms (the control group). The severity of NVP symptoms was compared between the two groups.
Results demonstrate that women who started using Diclectin(R) before NVP symptoms began had significantly reduced symptoms of severe NVP compared to women who only started Diclectin(R) when NVP symptoms appeared. In the pre-emptive group, there were 70% fewer cases of moderate-to-severe NVP compared to the control group during the 3 first weeks of NVP (p=0.05). Pre-emptive use of Diclectin(R) was also found to decrease the recurrence of HG in women with a previous history of HG (p=0.047).
"Women with NVP commonly report feeling unsupported by the medical community, and many physicians and pharmacists are hesitant to prescribe anti-emetics to pregnant women," said lead researcher Dr. Gideon Koren. "These new, important data continue to prove that NVP is a serious medical condition, and drive awareness of safe and effective treatment options to alleviate NVP symptoms and possibly prevent extreme cases of hyperemesis gravidarum."
The delayed release combination of 10 mg doxylamine and 10 mg pyridoxine has been shown to be safe and effective in more than 200,000 pregnant women.
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