Low-dose aspirins can help prevent pregnant women from developing pre-eclampsia, a serious condition for both mother and child, British doctors said on Friday.

Pre-eclampsia causes high blood pressure and kidney problems in women and slow growth in the foetus. It can lead to seizures, or eclampsia, which cause 10-15 percent of maternal deaths.

"Antiplatelet drugs, largely low dose aspirin, have small to moderate benefits when used for prevention of pre-eclampsia," Lelia Duley, an epidemiologist at the Institute of Health Sciences in Oxford said in a study published in the British Medical Journal.

Early delivery by Caesarean section is the only treatment for the condition, but is not ideal as premature births can lead to health and developmental problems.

But researchers at the institute said low-dose aspirins, which many people take to reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke, can also prevent pre-eclampsia.

The researchers reviewed 39 trials involving more than 30,000 women at risk of developing pre-eclampsia.

They found low-dose aspirin was linked to a 15 percent reduction in pre-eclampsia, a 14 percent cut in stillbirths and an eight percent drop in the risk of pre-term births, particularly when administered before 16, or even 12, weeks.

All of the women were given less than 75 milligrams of aspirin. The researchers said higher doses, while potentially more effective, could have serious side-effects such as stomach bleeding.

Duley and her colleagues said the findings could have important public health implications and that women, doctors and public health officials should be advised of the benefits.

(From ChinaDaily)