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Health Check: New way of giving lifesaving drug in childbirth

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2023/04/12 GMT

New way of giving lifesaving drug in childbirth

BBC World Service - Health Check, New way of giving lifesaving drug in childbirth

Trial shows injecting drug into muscle to stop bleeding in childbirth is effective.

Drug which stops bleeding in childbirth works if injected into muscle; lab-grown blood; why inflammation and not just being overweight puts strain on arthritic joints.

Researchers in Zambia and Pakistan have shown that a drug which helps to stop bleeding in childbirth is safe to give by injection into a muscle - making it easier to save women’s lives where skilled help isn’t always close by.  Tranexamic acid is usually given by a drip into a vein. But a new study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine compared that method with giving an injection into the thigh and administering it as a drink in a solution. They found that the injection was just as effective as the drip – which doctors say will save time and lives. 

We hear from one of the first people in the world to be given blood grown in a laboratory – and the scientist who made it possible.  People with conditions like sickle cell anaemia could eventually benefit from this technology with lab blood tailored to their needs. 

Overweight people with painful arthritic joints might be told it’s due to “wear and tear”. But Dr Graham Easton explains how a new study shows that changes to cells within our joints cause inflammation – and it’s not simply a case of extra weight putting pressure on our knees and hips. 

Producer: Paula McGrath

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