login
Become a member
Quick Registration
Full Registration Benefits -
Free Homepages for Doctors
Free Homepages for Hospitals
Free Homepages for Medical Conference
Free Homepages for NGO's
Personal Health Record Creation
Access to all Medical Slides
Access to all Jobs & Products Sale
Intake of Epilepsy Drug During Pregnancy Raises Autism Risk in Kids
The preliminary research is published in the December 2, 2008, print issue of Neurology.
The ongoing study involves 632 children, nearly half of whom were exposed to epilepsy drugs during gestation. Of the children whose mothers took epilepsy drugs while pregnant, 64 were exposed to valproate, 44 to lamotrigine, 76 to carbamazepine and 65 to other epilepsy drugs. Of the 632 children in the study, nine have been diagnosed with autism and one has shown symptoms of the disorder.
The children were tested at one, three and six years old. Two-thirds of the children were six years old by the end of the study.
The study found seven of the children with autism had mothers who took an epilepsy drug while pregnant, four of those children were exposed to valproate while a fifth child's mother took a combination of valproate and lamotrigine.
The children whose mothers were given valproate during pregnancy were seven times more likely to develop autism compared to children whose mothers did not take an epilepsy drug while pregnant.
This risk was not seen with the other epilepsy drugs. None of the children in the study had any known family history of autism.
"The potential risk for autism in this study was substantial for children whose mothers took valproate while pregnant, but more research needs to be done since these are early findings," says study author Gus Baker, PhD, FBPsS, of the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom.
|
|
|
More News on: Pregnancy and Diet , Drug Toxicity, Epilepsy, Autism, Trimester of pregnancy, Pregnancy and Exercise, Home Pregnancy Test, Pregnancy, Psychological Changes In Pregnancy, Febrile Fits / Febrile Convulsions
 Comment & Contribute
|
Medwonders Health Network
- Health News Index
|
|
 | Quiz on Pregnancy Does morning sickness tire you? Learn useful tips from the pregnancy quiz. 
|
- News Quick Links
 |
Pregnancy
Complete Medindia Resources
|
| News Categories: |
| » | Prednisolone Benefits Patients With Bell's Palsy |
| » | 'Orphan' Sleep Drug may Fight Cancer |
| » | New Drugs for Fox Tapeworm Infection |
| » | Poor Quality Antimalarial Drugs Pose Threat |
| » | New Drug Shows Promise Against Localized High-risk Prostate Tumors |
| More Drug News | |
|
