This paper examines the double life of misoprostol in Brazil, where it is illegally used by women as an abortifacient and legally used in obstetric hospital wards. Based on my doctoral and post-doctoral anthropological research on contraception and abortion in Salvador, Bahia, this paper initially traces the "conversion" of misoprostol from a drug to treat ulcers to a self-administered abortifa...

Aqueous root extract of Selayak Hitam a plant commonly found in Malaysian jungles and reported to have abortifacient property was screened for oxytocic effect. Results obtained from in vitro experiments on isolated uterus preparation from both pregnant and non pregnant rats and in vivo experiments on uterus contraction in rats in situ, showed that the extract lacks oxytocic effect. It is conclu...

seems hardly tenable with the evidence before one, which is to be found in more recent medical publications; and, although what I can produce is undoubtedly limited in amount, and very often imperfect from being merely abstracts of more detailed papers, it is still sufficient to show how diversified are the opinions held on these points, and also that the influence of quinine on the womb must b...

Studies made on aqueous root extract of Selayak Hitam, a plant alleged to possess abortifacient activity in pregnant mothers established that the extract is teratogenic and did in fact cause abortion in mice. It was also observed that the aqueous root extract is relatively toxic as judged by the number of deaths occuring following administration of the extract. The mechanism by which abortion i...

BACKGROUND The abortifacient claim of Senna alata (S. alata) was scientifically validated recently with alkaloids speculated to be the bioactive agent. This speculation is yet to be substantiated or refuted by scientific evidence. The present study was aimed to investigate the pregnancy terminating effects of the alkaloids from S. alata leaves. METHODS Twenty four Pregnant rats (143.99±1.21 g...

Living a healthy reproductive life is one of the major concerns among women. Unwanted conception rural tribal population like Karbis managed by using traditional medicinal plants. The present work was carried out to document uses plants or its products for inducing abortion. Field studies were undertaken in different Karbi dominated areas Anglong district informal and formal conversations, disc...

PURPOSE Access to legal abortion services is restricted in Latin America. Nonetheless, previous research suggest that women frequently use misoprostol to self-induce abortion. In many settings, women obtain the medication from a pharmacy. This study was conducted to better understand pharmacy staff knowledge and provision practices of misoprostol and other medical abortifacients. METHODS We f...