Deciphering RU-486 Essays -- Biology Essays Research Papers

Deciphering RU-486 When told there is a medicine available that may prove useful in the intervention of everything from cancer to HIV to Alzheimers Disease (1), the tendency would be to consider why its use isnt more(prenominal) pervasive. Conversely, when told there is a drug that functions to terminate unwanted pregnancies as well as preventing them from occurring at every(prenominal) (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 tote ups less easily met. The drug RU-486, at the same time 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 takes on the hormone progesterone are fairly effective in close a pregnancy in its early stages (1), with this aspect of the drug be successfully marketed in Europe (6) prior t o its more recent trance into this country (13). Its other uses have 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 adequate 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 near features to achieve their fullest potential.The clinical efficacy of RU-486 comes in its ability to bind to... ...6) womens liberationist Majority Foundation Reports on Mifepristone http//www.feminist.org/gateway/ru486one.html7) Unleashing the Killer check RU-486 Dangers, Lies, and Nazi/Communist Roots E xposed http//www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a21faea3ba6.htm8) The RU-486 Files http//www.ru486.org/9) Penn Scientists Identify radical Pathway in HIV Cycle http//www.upenn.edu/pennnews/features/1995/042595/Vpr.html10) AIDS-related Kaposis Sarcoma evidence for withdraw 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 anovulatory drug Arrives http//www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,56387,00.html