Antidepressant Use in Pregnancy: Autism Risk?
by Salynn Boyles, WebMD Health News, July 4, 2011.
Children born to women who take SSRI antidepressants during pregnancy may have a slight increase in risk for developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a new study suggests. Researchers compared the use of antidepressants among mothers of children with and without ASD. They found that those who had taken selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) were more than twice as likely to have a child with an ASD diagnosis. Autism spectrum disorder was uncommon in both groups, and the finding does not prove that SSRI use directly contributed to the children's ASD.
"This is the first study that has shown a possible association between SSRI use and autism and the findings should be considered preliminary," study researcher Lisa A. Croen, PhD, tells WebMD, adding that more research is needed to confirm an association.
Antidepressant use among women in their childbearing years, especially use of SSRIs, has also increased dramatically in recent decades. Seventy-five percent of those mothers of children with ASD took SSRIs, either alone or with other types of antidepressants. Prescribed SSRIs noted in the study included fluoxetine (Prozac), fluvoxamine (Luvox), paroxetine (Paxil), and sertraline (Zoloft). READ...
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