Friday, Apr. 28, 2023
Is mifepristone used for other reasons besides medically induced abortions?
While mifepristone's most common use is medically induced abortions, it can also be used as a treatment for Cushing syndrome.
Mifepristone, which blocks a key pregnancy hormone, is approved by the Food and Drug Administration to help induce a medication abortion in conjunction with misoprostol up to 10 weeks of pregnancy.
The only other FDA-approved use of the medication is to treat hyperglycemia — high blood glucose — in patients showing signs of Cushing syndrome, a condition caused by sustained high cortisol, or stress hormone, levels. Failure to treat Cushing syndrome can lead to high blood pressure, bone loss and diabetes.
Mifepristone also has off-label uses, which is the common practice of prescribing medications for a condition outside of FDA-approved uses. It has been effectively used as a medication for emergency contraception, to induce labor and treat leiomyomas, sometimes painful benign tumors in the uterus.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- JAMA Pediatrics Mifepristone
- Mayo Clinic Cushing syndrome: Symptoms and causes
- Mayo Clinic Proceedings Ten Common Questions (and Their Answers) About Off-label Drug Use
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