Pregnant on SSRI-->2-3x risk of Autistic Child
2x more ASD in kids whose moms used SSRI in 1yr before delivery ("modest" increase)
3x more ASI if using SSRI's in 1st trimester
autism on the rise: 4-5/10,000 in 1996-->almost 100/10,000 now or 1% chance
docs are still putting preg women on SSRIs because:
ONLY 20 KIDS (of n=1800+) HAD EXPOSURE TO SSRI SO THIS FINDING BASED ON VERY SMALL NUMBERS
risk of ASD is 1% so 3x risk is 3% risk, still not major risk
my questions:
how much of autism is caused by a mother who is bummed and doesn't connect???
known that dep in family-->incr asd
how much do SSRI's flatten affect---both negative and positive???
are women on SSRI's more likely to be depressed or flattened than women on other meds?
could it be that an increase in serotonin levels actually causes the infant brain to develop differently?
the sample
n=1800+
298 children with ASD (82.9% male; 54.7% white, 13.4% Hispanic, 9.4% Asian, 9.1% black)
1507 healthy controls (80.6% male; 46.4% white, 20.4% Hispanic, 9.9% Asian, 10% black)
sample from Childhood Autism Perinatal Study
born 1/97-6/99 at a KPNC facility
6.7% of kids with ASD (n = 20), 3.3% of healthy controls (n = 50) had prenatal exposure to 1+ antidepressants
found no incr risk among those with mothers c mental illness not taking SSRIs during preg
study published online July 4 in the Archives of General Psychiatry
3 classifications of antidepressants were assessed
1) SSRIs (citalopram hydrobromide, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine maleate, paroxetine hcl, and sertraline hcl)
2) dual-action antidepressants (no association with ASD tho these influence ser)
3) tricyclic antidepressants (no association with ASD, very few in sample)
other risks of SSRI use during pregnancy = ?, withdrawal symptoms
SOURCE
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/745890?src=mpnews&spon=12