Old drug with new hopes for pre-eclampsia cure

Treatment for preeclampsia

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston are trying to determine whether a drug already available to heart patients can also be used to delay delivery in expectant mothers with severe preeclampsia. If so, this groundbreaking study would give hope to hundreds of thousands of women who experience this life-threatening disorder each year.

The drug, Digibind, has been prescribed for over 20 years to patients who overdose on a certain heart medication, but is not yet approved for preeclampsia, the most common and dangerous pregnancy complication affecting as many as eight in every 100 pregnant women. The disorder is characterized by high blood pressure, protein in the urine and multi-organ dysfunction, all of which can seriously harm both mother and fetus.