Mother's aspirin may hit son's sex drive
Men whose mothers take aspirin during pregnancy could suffer low sex drives, scientists reported today.
Researchers in the United States urged women to “use caution” in taking the drug when pregnant, based on the study of lab rats.
The rodents were given the common painkiller in water for two weeks around the time they gave birth.
Their offspring were found to have lower sex drives than those who were not exposed to the drug.
Regions of the affected rats’ brains also appeared to be more “female”.
The researchers from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, cautioned that it was unclear whether the same effect would be seen in humans.
“I don’t think there’s any need to panic,” said psychologist Marc Breedlove.
“It is a subtle effect even in rats, but it is a reminder for pregnant women to use caution,” he told Nature Neuroscience.
The rats were exposed to a daily level of aspirin equivalent to the dose a human would take for a headache.
According to researcher Margaret McCarthy aspirin lowers levels of a group of chemicals known as prostaglandins.
“There are many different prostaglandins, doing a lot of things that we don’t understand,” she said.
Millions of people take aspirin in the as a painkiller.
Others use it as a way of protecting against heart disease and stroke.
