Deciphering RU-486 Essays -- Biology Essays Research Papers

Deciphering RU-486 When told there is a dose available that may prove useful in the treatment of everything from cancer to HIV to Alzheimers Disease (1), the tendency would be to ask why its use isnt more pervasive. Conversely, when told there is a drug that functions to terminate unwanted pregnancies as well as preventing them from occurring at all (1), it would be more likely to call into question the ethics of such a design. However, when considering a drug that does all these things, the need to see everything as black and white suddenly be jazzs less easily met. The drug RU-486, simultaneously vilified by anti-abortion advocates and praised by many research scientists, is just such a drug, and it presents a decidedly modern moral dilemma. Its inhibitory effects on the hormone progesterone ar fairly effective in ending a pregnancy in its early stages (1), with this aspect of the drug being successfully marketed in Europe (6) earlier to its more recent entrance into this countr y (13). Its other uses scram been less widely publicized, largely because to an extent they are just being developed. RU-486 appears to also have an inhibitory effect on the class of stress hormones known as glucocorticoids, which have been recognized as being extremely harmful to the body in a whole host of ways given a high enough concentration. With the high-stress lifestyles we lead today and little evolutionary back-up to deal with that, it is imperative that we come up with a method of treating stress-related illness. It is worth considering at what point the more controversial use of RU-486 should be put aside to allow its beneficial features to secure their fullest potential.The clinical efficacy of RU-486 comes in its ability to bind to... ...6) Feminist Majority Foundation Reports on Mifepristone http//www.feminist.org/gateway/ru486one.html7) Unleashing the Killer Pill RU-486 Dangers, Lies, and Nazi/commie Roots Exposed http//www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a21faea3ba6.htm 8) The RU-486 Files http//www.ru486.org/9) Penn Scientists Identify New Pathway in HIV Cycle http//www.upenn.edu/pennnews/features/1995/042595/Vpr.html10) AIDS-related Kaposis Sarcoma evidence for direct stimulatory effect of glucocorticoid on cell proliferation http//cancer.med.upenn.edu/cancernet/95/may/705001.html611) Cushings Syndrome http//medhlp.netusa.net/lib/cushings.htm12) Treatment of Cushings Syndrome http//www.uptodate.com/patient_info/topicpages/text/10348A3.asp1913) Time Magazine The Pill Arrives http//www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,56387,00.html