Pregnant women warned about ACE¹ inhibitor

Some of the most commonly used medicines for high blood pressure are drugs called ACE inhibitors. Doctors have given these drugs to patients for twenty-five years. A government study in the United States found that the use almost doubled between 1995 and 2000.

Doctors have known for years that women should not take ACE inhibitors during the last six months of pregnancy. The medicine can injure the baby. ACE inhibitors, though, have been considered safe when taken during the first three months. But a new study has found that women who take these drugs early in their pregnancy still increase the risk of birth disorders.² The study shows that, compared to others, their babies were almost three times as likely to be born with major problems.³ These included problems with the formation of the brain and nervous system and holes in the heart.

The researchers say they found no increased risk in women who took other blood pressure medicines during the first three months. Researchers at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee and Boston University did the study. The New England Journal of Medicine⁴ published the results. The researchers studied the records of almost thirty thousand births between 1985 and 2000. Two hundred nine babies were born to women who took ACE inhibitors during the first three months of their pregnancies. Eighteen of the babies, or almost nine percent, had major disorders.

ACE inhibitors are often given to patients with diabetes. But diabetes during pregnancy can result in birth defects.⁵ So the study did not include any women known to be diabetic. ACE inhibitors suppress a protein called angiotensin-converting enzyme, or ACE. This enzyme produces a chemical in the body that makes blood passages narrow. The drugs increase the flow of blood so pressure is reduced.

New drugs are tested on pregnant animals to see if they might cause birth defects in humans. But experts say these tests are not always dependable. The United States Food and Drug Administration⁶ helped pay for the study. The F.D.A. says women who might become pregnant should talk with their doctor about other ways to treat high blood pressure.

詞匯：

pregnant adj. 懷孕的

inhibitor n. 抑制劑

pregnancy n. 懷孕

diabetes n. 糖尿病

diabetic adj. 糖尿病的 n. 糖尿病患者

suppress vt. 抑制

dependable adj. 可靠的

注釋：

1. ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme)：血管緊張肽轉(zhuǎn)化酶

2. birth disorders：先天性疾病

3. The study shows that, compared to others, their babies were almost three times as likely to be born with major problems. 這項(xiàng)研究表明，如果與其他嬰兒相比，這些嬰兒在出生時(shí)患大病的可能性幾乎是他們的三倍。compare to在美國英語中也有 compared with（與...相比）的意思。另外，problem在醫(yī)學(xué)文獻(xiàn)中常常用來指疾病。

4. New England Journal of Medicine：新英格蘭醫(yī)藥雜志。New England 是美國東北六州 ( Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island 和 Connecticut )的總稱。

5 birth defect ( = congenital defect)：先天性缺陷，先天性缺損

6. United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)：美國食品與藥品管理局