Thalidomide Yields One of Its Secrets.

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Thalidomide Presentation

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sourced by Barbara McPherson

The drug thalidomide first burst onto the public's consciousness in the 1960s when a series of babies were born with severe limb deformities.  They ranged from missing fingers to missing whole limbs. Depending on when the drug was taken, babies suffered other disabling effects and death. The common factor was found to be an anti nausea drug called thalidomide.  This drug was pivotal in putting to an end the blythe confidence that a pill could cure any problem with no side effects.

Many lives were saved in the United States by Frances Oldham Kelsey who stalled the marketing of thalidomide in the US until the reports of birth defects starting pouring in from Canada and Europe.  After the debacle of thalidomide, new more rigorous procedures were initiated before new drugs could enter the market.

A scientist, Neil Vargesson at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland,  observed the limb malformations in babies born to women receiving treatment for leprosy.  He eventually teased out of the complex action of thalidomide that it restricts blood vessel growth in the fetal limbs leading to the characteristic malformations.  He is hoping that his work will lead to a safer, yet still effective drug against Hansen's Disease(leprosy).