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THURSDAY, June 7 (HealthDay News) — Taking the abortion drug
misoprostol under the tongue is most effective when the doses are taken in
medicine hat news obituary
intervals, but this approach can cause more side effects than
if the drug is taken in 12-hour intervals, according to a study published
Thursday in The Lancet.

If a patient prefers 12-hour intervals, vaginal administration of the
drug is the recommended method, the medicine hat news paper
say.

While the use of another drug, mifepristone, followed by misoprostol,
is the only approved method of medical abortion in the U.S., there are
many countries where mifepristone isn't available and doctors use
misoprostol alone to induce abortion, according to medicine hat news classifieds
information
in the study.

Until now, there hasn't been any evidence about the best method or
interval of internal medicine news
misoprostol alone to achieve complete
abortion.

In this study, Dr. Helena von Hertzen, of the Department of
Reproductive Health and Research at the

World Health Organization, and her
colleagues studied 2,046 women who were divided into four groups that
received misoprostol either vaginally at three- and 12-hour intervals, or
under the tongue at three or 12-hour intervals.

Among women who took misoprostol at 12-hour intervals, pregnancy
continued in 9 percent of those who took the drug orally and in 4 percent
of those who took it vaginally. Among those who took the drug at
three-hour intervals, pregnancy continued in 6 percent of those who took
it orally and in 4 percent of those who took it vaginally.

Side effects such as nausea and vomiting were more common among women
who took misoprostol under the tongue and vaginally at three-hour
intervals than among those who took the drug at 12-hour intervals. Side
effects such as pain, diarrhea, chills and shivering were slightly higher
among women who took the drug orally.

“Administration interval can be chosen between three hours and 12 hours
when misoprostol is given vaginally. If administration is oral, the
intervals between misoprostol doses need to be short, but side effects are
then increased. With 12-hour intervals, vaginal route should be used,
whereas with three-hour intervals either route could be chosen,” the study
authors concluded.

More information

MedlinePlus has more about misoprostol.