It can’t do any harm… the aspirin problem

Following on from this, I have recently read an interview with Professor Arri Coomarasamy , Consultant Gynaecologist and Sub-specialist in Reproductive Medicine and Surgery at Birmingham Women’s Hospital. You need to scroll down to read it here: http://www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk/information/research/talking-about-research/ I will try to find, read and share the aspirin research that is referred to. It’s not the first time that I have heard that there has been a study which seemed to show that aspirin used in pregnancy WHERE THERE IS NO KNOWN BLOOD CLOTTING ISSUE may actually CAUSE miscarriages. This is really scary for the hundreds of women under the care local RMC clinics where they still prescribe it ‘just in case’. The advice in the College guideline (the official list of what treatments/medicines work for what condition) still doesn’t seem to have been updated to reflect new findings. As a matter of fact, my GP was sent a letter from a local RMC consultant this August (2014) saying that they were not aware of any changes.

The way I'm making sense of miscarriage

There is a belief in the Recurrent Miscarriage community (medical practitioners and sufferers) that baby aspirin (75-81mg) can help prevent future miscarriages. The idea is that it thins the blood slightly, meaning that it flows more easily to the uterus, the placenta and the developing baby. This can be effective if the patient has a known blood thickening/clotting issue, for example:

• the antiphospholipid (aPL) antibody and lupus anticoagulant – this test should be done twice, six weeks apart, when you are not pregnant

Antiphospholipid (aPL) antibodies are known to increase the chance of blood clots. These blood clots can block the blood supply to the foetus, which can cause a miscarriage. (from http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Miscarriage/Pages/Diagnosis.aspx)

St Mary’s, London, also perform the TEG test (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thromboelastography), in which your blood is rushed to be tested straight away, while it’s still fresh to check for clotting disorders. I am due to have this test if and…

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The difficult demographic

In the very small bits of time when I’m not feeling sorry for myself, I feel sorry for the medical practitioners that come in to contact with women like me. Recurrent miscarriers; professional, educated late 30 something women. We are used to Getting Stuff Done. We’re clever, organised and our memories are long. And thanks to the Internet, we can research, read and gain at least a basic understanding of journal papers and read peer reviewed, published research. This ought to make us more difficult to fob off, but somehow this seems not to be the case. What is happening instead is that these kinds of character traits are making it easier to piss us off when we get fobbed off.

Don’t get me wrong, we know we’re the subjects of a very little understood area of medicine. RMC, after all, has been seriously underfunded for a long time. This is the case, in my view, because it happens to women and you don’t die from it. But there is current, peer reviewed research going on, and its high time that all of the major centres of excellence got on the collaborative bus, put their egos away and started moving forward.

Trying a new procedure at a new clinic (after reading their research) is not the same as going down to the health food shop and loading up your basket with as many supplements as you can carry, because you read on line that they worked for someone’s sister’s cousin. But some top consultants think it is the same.

I’ve been told IVF won’t help me, and I understand my medical issues sufficiently to accept this and not spend my money going privately for that treatment. I have also read several published medical papers on NK cells and new research on the dynamic process of implantation, and I don’t think it’s b*llsh*t. So I’ve made informed choices about what I need and what is worth paying for. Yes, I have also heard anecdotal stories of success, too. But I’m not just getting recommendations on buying a fridge, so, although they’re helpful, I’ve looked at research with medical authority, too. I’m not a fool.

The Philosopher R.M. Hare, in response to the question of whether unfalsifiable beliefs were meaningful and rationally held posits the theory of Bliks. In this theory, he gives the example of a student at university who thinks that all of the professors are trying to kill him. Nothing will shake his belief in this. Even when the professors are kindly towards him, he thinks to himself, “Aha! They are trying to  lull me in to a false sense of security before they strike!” This Blik is clearly insane, especially because no amount of evidence will persuade him to consider changing his view.

I am concerned that there are a few Bliks mixed in with the egos at some RMC clinics. And who suffers? Women and their partners who are looking for help and answers. We’re intelligent enough to know the difference between medicine and ‘snake oil’. Treating us as if we’re not is extremely frustrating, and I’m sure that everyone in the RMC world, on both sides of the speculum would agree that feeling wound up isn’t (literally) going to get us anywhere.

A little collaboration would go a long way. Bury the rivalry, please.