Using Antiseizure Drug During Pregnancy Linked to Twice the Risk of Autism in Child
A recent study shows women who have epilepsy and are taking antiseizure medicine, valproic acid during pregnancy, are at more than twice the risk of having children with ASD and almost twice the risk of having children with ADHD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Reports on this study said findings were published in the October 28 issue of Neurology, the American Academy of Neurology's medical journal.
According to Brian D'Onofrio, Ph.D., of Indiana University in Bloomington, clinical recommendations caution against "the use of valproic acid" while pregnant if possible because of links to birth defects, as well as other health conditions in children. However, valproic acid is the first-line treatment, too, for universal seizures and maybe the best option for optimum control of seizure.
D'Onofrio also said they investigated three medications and discovered that women who reported they were using valproic acid during the first trimester of their pregnancy had more than double the risk of their children having autism and almost double the risk of their children having ADHD compared to women with epilepsy who were not taking any antiseizure medications while pregnant.
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Lamotrigine 150mg Oral Tablet
3 Most Used Drugs
Study authors examined more than 14,600 children born between 1996 to 2011 to mothers with epilepsy. Of the mothers in the study, about 23 percent reported using antiseizure drugs during their first trimester.
The study also showed that three of the most used medications by women with epileptic included carbamazepine, taken by 10 percent of the mothers, lamotrigine, taken by seven percent of the women, and valproic acid, used by five percent of the mothers.
As indicated in their study, through the use of medical records, researchers were able to determine which children "were later diagnosed with ADHD or autism."
Of the children exposed to antiseizure medications, particularly valproic acid, 36 out of the 699 developed autism by the time they were 10 years of age compared to 154 out of more than 11,000 who were not exposed to any similar drug during pregnancy.
In addition, the research also indicates 54 children in all, out of the 699 involved in the study, whose mothers used valproic acid while pregnant developed ADHD by the age of 10, compared to 251 out of 11,298 children who were not exposed to the drug.
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Certain Antiseizure Drugs Found Safe to Use
Researchers, after making adjustments for factors such as the severity of epilepsy, women who said they used valproic acid during the first three months of pregnancy were found to be "2.3 times higher risk of having children diagnosed with autism."
Meanwhile, the same research specified a "1.7 times higher risk of children diagnosed with ADHD compared to women who said they did not use any antiseizure drugs.
As a result, the study authors found that women who used lamotrigine and carbamazepine did not have an increased risk of their child developing ADHD or autism.
According to D'Onofrio, their findings contribute to the "growing body of evidence suggesting that antiseizure medications" may be safer to use compared to others during gestation.
Furthermore, the expert also said while they did not find that the medications directly led to ADHD or autism, their research "expands upon previous work on birth outcomes" by representing a connection between valproic acid and longer-term problems.
Such findings, D'Onofrio added, propose that women using antiseizure drugs, specifically valproic acid, need to weigh possible harm to the fetus, as well as the current seizure management, in making decisions with their doctors if they are planning to get pregnant.
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Oct 29, 2020 09:00 AM EDT
