Q: My wife, 31 years old, is 16 weeks pregnant. She had 13 weeks missed abortion in her first pregnancy. She has now been advised to take injection Profassi 5000 weekly, Progestron 200 BD, folic acid BD, Asprin 75 mg HS, to be taken till 4 months of pregnancy. She is having mild to moderate left side abdominal pain. The pain was relieved by taking tab Anafortan. Now she is advised to take tab Nidagest 2 BD, after 4 months of pregnancy. I want to know the role and side effects of Nidagest?

A:The medicines mentioned by you (Chorionic Gonadotrophin and progesterone) are generally given only in cases of habitual, threatened and recurrent abortions. A single case of abortion cannot be classified as "habitual" abortion. In any case now that phase is over. There is no scientific reason to continue with allyloestrenol (Nidagest) which is nothing but another form of progestogen. Only if there is proven deficiency of this hormone, can one give this medicine. The lady, however, must continue to take folic acid and iron tablets (such as Globac-Z) daily. General statement on selection of brands: There are scores, sometimes hundreds, of brands of the same medicine. Against about 300 pharmaceutical manufacturers in western countries like Britain, there are over 20,000 producers in India that market more than 40,000 brands. Most manufacturers do not have quality testing laboratories. Hence selection of brands is important. Many companies give incentives to prescribers to patronise their products. Patients should check the reputation of manufacturers before consuming medicines.