Some Antiepileptic Drugs During Pregnancy Can Have A Negative Impact On The Development Of The CNS Of The Teens

Some Antiepileptic Drugs During Pregnancy Can Have A Negative Impact On The Development Of The CNS Of The Teens.


Teens born to women who took two or more epilepsy drugs while replete fared worse in equip than peers with no prenatal baring to those medications, a ginormous Swedish bookwork has found. Also, teens born to epileptic mothers in blended tended to scrape discount in several subjects, including math and English venegra plus. The findings endure earlier inquiry that linked prenatal risk to epilepsy drugs, in particular valproic acid (brand names allow for Depakene and Depakote), to contrary junk on a child's ability to answer information, solve problems and make decisions.



And "Our results suggest that knowledge to several anti-epileptic drugs in utero may have a negating effect on a child's neurodevelopment," said turn over author Dr Lisa Forsberg of Karolinska University Hospital. The swat was published online Nov 4, 2010 in Epilepsia.



The muse about was retrospective, denotation that it looked backward in time. Using nationalistic medical records and a study conducted by a native hospital, Forsberg and her team identified women with epilepsy who gave delivery between 1973 and 1986, as well as those who Euphemistic pre-owned anti-epileptic drugs during pregnancy. The rig then obtained records of children's school acting from a registry that provides grades for all students leaving school in at 16, the age that mandatory teaching ends in Sweden.



The researchers identified 1,235 children born to epileptic mothers. Of those, 641 children were exposed to one anti-epileptic dope and 429 to two or more; 165 children had no known revelation to the medications. The researchers then compared those children's clique carrying out to that of all other children born in Sweden (more than 1,3 million) during that 13-year period.



The teens exposed to more than one anti-epileptic knock out in the womb were less in all probability to get a ending incline than those in the combined population, said Forsberg. Not receiving a unalterable grade largely means not attending general school because of mental deficits, she explained.



While teens exposed to only one anti-seizure medication did not show the same risk, they were less fitting to while away with excellence. This may be the end of the influence of the anti-epileptic drug during fetal life, but it may also be the impact of factors related to epilepsy, such as genetic factors, public factors and the significance of the mother's seizures, said Forsberg. "Therefore, these material should be interpreted with caution".



Anti-epileptic medications furthermore valproic acid include phenytoin (such as Dilantin and Phenytek) and carbamazepine (such as Tegretol and Carbatrol). The lessons celebrated that compared to other anti-epileptic drugs, valproic acid during pregnancy seems to have a stronger argumentative clout on cognitive skills. However, Forsberg said that this investigation could not procure specific conclusions about valproic acid, since very few of the children planned were exposed to it.



There's also hint that taking multiple anti-epileptic drugs can cause more injure than taking just one. That's why the American Academy of Neurology recommends enchanting just one during pregnancy, if possible, and exasperating medications other than valproic acid.



Dr Jacqueline A French, professor of neurology at NYU Langone Medical Center and concert-master of the Clinical Trials Consortium at the NYU Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, said that the retrospective creation of the contemplate made it intractable to suppress for unknowns that could have distressed its findings. For example, the study could not intermediary in how often the mothers had seizures during their pregnancies or during critical ahead years of the child's life.



So "I imagine that could have an impact on the child's development," said French. "We can't eliminate the possibility that a bit of fluff on anti-epileptic drugs whose seizures are well controlled has just as much distinct possibility of having a child that excels as a woman who is not on the drugs".



Forsberg agreed, noting that most children exposed to anti-epileptic drugs do end school, and that most children of epileptic mothers are born and endure healthy. However, the mull over findings sustain current recommendations that teeming women take just one anti-epileptic medicate if possible, noted Forsberg. She also recommended that women with epilepsy expect their pregnancies Weight gain with synthroid. "That way, they and their doctors can come up with special treatment plans that metamorphose the pregnancy safe for both mother and child," she said.