Originally published April 8 2005
Anti-convulsion drug may lead to birth defects, new study says; pregnant women cautioned about brand names Depakote and Depakene
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A drug intended to treat seizures, as well as other problems like migraines headaches and psychiatric disorders, may also lead pregnant women to a dramatically larger risk for birth defects, a new study says. Valproate, also known by its U.S. brand names Depakote and Depakene, has been linked in a number of previous studies to an increased risk of birth problems such as spina bifida, but the latest study is the first to put a number on the greater risk: Massachusetts's scientists say women who take the drug are at four times the risk of delivering a child with birth defects.
"The basic message for women who take valproate is to plan ahead if they want to have children. Discuss the risks with their physician and consider taking alternative drugs," says the lead author of the study.
Use of the anticonvulsant drug valproate during pregnancy may pose a significantly great risk of birth defects than does use of other antiseizure medications.
In the March 22 issue of Neurology, researchers from the North American AED (Antiepileptic Drug) Pregnancy Registry at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) report that women taking valproate alone had a fourfold increased risk of having a child with a major malformation, compared with the risk among women taking other anticonvulsants.
Discuss the risks with their physician and consider taking alternative drugs," says Lewis Holmes, MD, chief of the Genetics and Teratology Unit at MassGeneral Hospital for Children, director of the registry and senior author of the Neurology paper.
Sold in the U.S. under the brand names Depakote and Depakene, valproate is used to treat seizures, migraines and such psychiatric disorders as bipolar disorder.
Earlier studies have suggested a potential risk of birth defects, primarily neural tube defects such as spina bifida, but none had definitively established the level of risk and the types of malformations that most frequently occur.
Three infants had spina bifida, and a wide variety of malformations was seen in the others, including developmental delays.
"Many physicians have just advised their patients taking valproate to make sure to take folic acid to prevent neural tube defects; but the women in our study who had children with spinal bifida or other malformations had all taken the recommended dose of folic acid."
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