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Antidepressants during pregnancy cause alarming 68 percent increased
risk of miscarriage
S. L. Baker
NaturalNews
Monday, June 7th, 2010
Back in 2005, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned
that exposure to the antidepressant paroxetine (sold as Paxil,
Paxil CR, and Pexeva) in the first trimester of pregnancy might
increase the risk for birth defects, especially heart problems.
Did this halt the widespread prescribing of paroxetine and other
antidepressants for pregnant women? Unfortunately, the answer
is no.
In fact, background information in a just published study in
CMAJ (the Canadian Medical Association Journal) notes the drugs
are frequently used in pregnancy. Almost 4 percent of pregnant
women take them at some point during the first trimester --
and the result can be tragic. The new research concludes expectant
moms taking antidepressants have an astounding 68 percent increase
in the overall risk of miscarriage.
Most previous studies on the use of these medications in pregnancy
have been small and haven't looked as miscarriages as a main
outcome. But this large study by researchers from the University
of Montreal and the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center
(CHU Ste-Justine) evaluated the association between antidepressant
use in pregnancy in detail -- analyzing classes, types and doses
of the drugs and the risk of miscarriage.
In all, the scientists investigated data on 5124 women in Quebec
from a large population-based cohort of pregnant women who had
miscarried by 20 weeks of gestation. Then they compared their
findings to a large sample of women from the same registry who
carried their babies full term. Of the women who lost their
babies, 284 had taken antidepressants during pregnancy.
All the popular SSRI drugs were linked to miscarriage risk
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), especially
paroxetine, were associated with the increased risk of miscarriage.
Venlafaxine (sold under the brand names Effexor, Alventa, Argofan,
and Trevilor), which is the sixth most commonly prescribed antidepressant
in the U.S., belongs to another slightly different class of
SSRIs called arylalkanolamine serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake
inhibitors (SNRIs) and, like paroxetine, it was also especially
likely to cause miscarriages. In addition, higher daily doses
of antidepressants and a combination of different drugs raised
the risk substantially.
"These results, which suggest an overall class effect
of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, are highly robust
given the large number of users studied," Dr. Anick Berard
of the University of Montreal and the Director of the Research
Unit on Medications and Pregnancy at CHU Ste-Justine wrote in
the article.
Overall, an astounding number of Americans, some 27 million,
now take SSRIs. However, as NaturalNews has previously reported,
new dangers from these drugs continue to be uncovered. For example,
last December Albert Einstein College of Medicine researchers
announced their findings that taking SSRIs significantly raises
the risk of strokes and death in women after menopause (http://www.naturalnews.com/027841_S...).
For more information:
http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/doi/10.1503/...
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