Aspirin May Help Some Women Conceive

A daily low dose of aspirin may help women who have previously lost a pregnancy to successfully conceive and carry a pregnancy to term, say NIH researchers in a study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. The women who benefited from the aspirin treatment had high levels of Creactive protein (CRP), a substance in the blood indicating system-wide inflammation, which aspirin is thought to counteract. Researchers at NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development analyzed data originally obtained from the Effects of Aspirin in Gestation and Reproduction (EAGeR) trial. The trial sought to determine if daily low-dose aspirin could prevent subsequent pregnancy loss among women who had one or two prior losses. In the current study, authors classified the women into three groups according to their CRP levels. Women within each group received either daily low-dose aspirin or a placebo. Live birth occurred in 55% of women overall. Of those in the high CRP group, women who received a low dose of aspirin had a 59% live birth rate (a 35% increase); women taking the placebo

in that group had the lowest live birth rate at 44%. Researchers found no significant differences in birth rates between those who received aspirin and those who received placebo in the low-CRP and mid-CRP groups. More research is needed to confirm the findings and to examine the potential influence of inflammation on pregnancy and birth. Find the study here: academic.oup .com/jcem/article-abstract/doi/10.1210/jc.20162917/2967890/Preconception-low-dose-aspirinrestores-diminished.

Survival Rates of Very-Early-Preterm Infants Very-early-preterm infants are more likely to survive than in previous years, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Those who survive are also less likely to have neurologic problems. Researchers analyzed data from more than 4,000 infants born at an NIH research network between 22 and 24 weeks gestation, as assessed at 18 to 22 months of corrected age, across three consecutive time periods: 2000 through 2003, 2004 through 2007, and 2008 through 2011. From 2000 to 2011, survival rates increased from 30% to 36%; those born from 2008 to 2011 had the lowest death rate (64%). From 2004 to 2007, the death rate was 70%, unchanged from 2000 to 2003. The authors note that although many experts feared that an increase in survival among extremely preterm infants would result in more infants having neurologic or developmental impairment, the current study shows that the percentage of infants who survived with a disability did not change significantly across all three time intervals. It is thought that the increased survival and improved outcomes are likely a result of better care for mothers and newborns. Find the study here: www.nejm .org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1605566.

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Nursing for Women’s Health

Volume 21

Issue 3

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Briefs

Research & Practice

Aspirin May Help Some Women Conceive