Diuretics have been widely prescribed in the 1960s to pregnant women for the prevention of high blood pressure during pregnancy, a life threatening condition known as preeclampsia.

However, according to recent review of studies, diuretic drugs should not be recommended to pregnant women.

According to obstetrician David Churchill of New Cross Hospital in West Midlands, England, and colleagues:

Women who took diuretics -- commonly known as "water pills" -- during pregnancy were not any less likely to develop preeclampsia, to deliver prematurely or to lose their babies than those who did not take the pills.

Pregnant women who took diuretics are even more likely to experience nausea and vomiting.

Preeclampsia was thought to be caused by excess salt and water retained by pregnant women, That's why doctors and researchers used to prescribe diuretics, to increase urination and remove water and salt from the body.

In the 1980's, doctors stopped recommending diuretics as a regular preventive measure for preeclampsia, when the drug has been linked to a decrease in pregnant women's plasma levels. (Plasma levels would normally increase during a healthy pregnancy.)

Usually diagnosed after 20 weeks of pregnancy, women with preeclampsia have high blood pressure and protein in their urine.

According to Dr. Churchill, "Currently, the only cure for the disease is delivery of the baby and the placenta, but this leads to many babies being born prematurely and vulnerable."

Therefore dietary changes have been instrumental for preventing this condition, such as prescription of calcium-rich foods.

According to Lisa Bodnar, Ph.D., a maternal nutrition specialist at the University of Pittsburgh:

"There are no changes that a woman can make that will lessen symptoms or 'cure' her disease once she has overt preeclampsia. The dietary modifications that women should make are in early pregnancy, or even before a woman gets pregnant."

The new review appears in the latest issue of The Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration.

Source: Center for the Advancement of Health