The hormone Oxytocin is used to:
*Stimulate contractions of the uterus and smooth muscle tissue
*Help strengthen labor
*Reduce bleeding after the delivery of a baby
Current evidence suggests that Oxytocin is involved in facilitating sperm transport within the male reproductive system and perhaps also in the female, due to its presence in seminal fluid. Oxytocin is also said to have effects on some aspects of male sexual behavior and is used to stimulate breast-feeding.
Oxytocin is destroyed in the gastrointestinal tracts, and therefore must be administered as an injection or as a nasal spray. It has a half-life of typically about three minutes in the blood. Given intraveneously, it does not enter the brain in significant quantities, but is instead excluded from the brain by the blood, brain barrier. Drugs administered by nasal spray are thought to have better access to the Central Nervous System. Injected Oxytocin analogs are used to induce and support labor in case of nonprogression of parturition. It has largely replaced ergothamine as the principle agent to increase uterine tone in acute post-partum hemorrhages.
Oxytocin is also used in veterianary medicine. The tocolytic agent athosiban (tractocile) acts as an antagonist of Oxytocin recepters. This drug is used in many countries to prevent premature labor between 24 snd 33 weeks of gestation. It has fewer side effects than drugs previously used for this purpose. (Ritodrine and Salbutamol and Terbutaline). Some has suggested that the sun inducing properties might help those with anxieties, while others have noted a potential for abuse with confidence tricks.
SIDES EFFECTS
Some side effects of the use of Oxytocin are:
Cardiovascular
*Chest pain *Difficulty in breathing *Fast or irregular heartbeat
* Central Nervous System (CNS) *Seizures *Brain Hemorrhage *Confusion
*Severe Headache Epithelial *Irritation at the injection site *Tenderness *Warmth
*Irritation *Redness *Swelling *Pain *Drainage (of Blood Vessels)
Reproductive
*Impaired uterine blood flow *Pelvic hemotoma *Titanic uterine contractions
*Uterine ruptor *Postpartum hemorrhage
Continued: Part 3, Special Facts About Oxytocin
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Last updated October 2013
