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Aspirin's effect on offspring

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Male children of mothers who take painkillers such as aspirin while they're pregnant may experience reduced sex drive, according to US scientists.

In research with rats, University of Maryland researchers found that painkiller drugs such as aspirin interfered with male sexual behaviour. The researchers say if this also proves to be the case in humans, pregnant women should not use common painkillers when they're pregnant, BBC News Online reported.

The study, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, found that painkillers can block the synthesis of a chemical called prostaglandin-E2.

Male rats exposed during pregnancy or as newborns to drugs that blocked production of this chemical were less sexually active as adults and also had brains that were structured more like the brains of female rats. – (HealthDayNews)

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