Exposure to certain antidepressants in pregnancy may modestly increase risk of autism spectrum disorders
July 4, 2011 in Psychology & Psychiatry
Prenatal exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, especially during the first trimester, is associated with a modest increase the risk of developing an autism spectrum disorder, according to a report published Online First in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
"The prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) has increased over recent years," the authors write as background information in the article. "Use of antidepressant medications during pregnancy also shows a secular increase in recent decades, prompting concerns that prenatal exposure may contribute to increased risk of ASD."
To evaluate if prenatal exposure to antidepressants, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), is associated with an increase in ASD, Lisa A. Croen, Ph.D., of Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, and colleagues examined medical records for children drawn from the Childhood Autism Perinatal Study conducted by Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in Northern California. The authors included 298 children with ASD (case group) and their mothers, and 1,507 control children and their mothers in the study.
Twenty mothers of children in the case group (6.7 percent) and 50 mothers of children in the control group (3.3 percent) had at least one prescription for an antidepressant in the year prior to the birth of the study child. Of the 20 case mothers who were prescribed antidepressants, 13 (65 percent) were prescribed SSRIs only, two (10 percent) were prescribed an SSRI in combination with another antidepressant and five (25 percent) were prescribed one or more non-SSRI antidepressants only. Of the 50 control mothers who were prescribed an antidepressant, 25 (50 percent) were prescribed SSRIs only, nine (18 percent) were prescribed an SSRI in combination with another antidepressant and 16 (32 percent) were prescribed one or more non-SSRI antidepressants only.
After adjusting for maternal and birth factors, mothers of children with ASD were twice as likely to have at least one antidepressant prescription in the year prior to delivery. When compared with women with no antidepressant prescription during the study period, those with a prescription for a SSRI were more than twice as likely to have a child later diagnosed with ASD. This association was not seen for the small group of women who were prescribed a non-SSRI antidepressant only.
Additionally, after adjustment for a history of depression during the year prior to delivery, SSRI exposure during the first trimester remained significantly associated with risk of ASD, as was a history of SSRI exposure at any point during the year prior to delivery. Conversely, no association was seen between risk of ASD and the indication for treatment (mother having a history of depression or any mental health disorder) for the year prior to delivery.
"Although the number of children exposed prenatally to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in this population was low, results suggest that exposure, especially during the first trimester, may modestly increase the risk of ASD," the authors conclude. "We recommend that our findings be considered as preliminary and treated with caution, pending results from further studies designed to address the very complex question of whether prenatal exposure to SSRIs may be etiologically linked to later diagnoses of ASDs in offspring."
More information: Arch Gen Psychiatry. Published online July 4, 2011. doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.73
Provided by
JAMA and Archives Journals
-
Commonly prescribed antidepressants associated with lower bone density in older men and women
Jun 25, 2007 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Young adults not at risk of suicidal behavior from antidepressants
Jul 06, 2007 |
not rated yet |
0
-
No link between antidepressants and birth defects
May 22, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Link Between Antidepressants and Birth Defect
Sep 29, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Treating SSRI-resistant depression
Mar 25, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions
Apr 23, 2013 |
3 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)
Apr 02, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
5
-
The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
Mar 30, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
9
-
Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled
Mar 27, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance
Feb 28, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
14
-
Pressure-volume curve: Elastic Recoil Pressure don't make sense
4 hours ago
-
If you became brain-dead, would you want them to pull the plug?
21 hours ago
-
MRI bill question
May 15, 2013
-
Ratio of Hydrogen of Oxygen in Dessicated Animal Protein
May 13, 2013
-
Alcohol and acetaminophen
May 13, 2013
-
Marie Curie's leukemia
May 13, 2013
- More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences
More news stories
Study reviews readmissions in inpatient psychiatric facilities
(HealthDay)—Most Medicare beneficiaries treated in inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPFs) exhibit characteristics associated with hospital readmission, according to a report prepared for the National Association ...
Psychology & Psychiatry
17 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Skydiving is never plane sailing
Skydivers show the same level of physical stress before every jump whether a first-timer or experienced jumper, say Northumbria researchers.
Psychology & Psychiatry
17 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
|
Kids, especially boys, perceive sadness of depressed parents
Children of depressed parents pick up on their parents' sadness—whether mom or dad realizes their mood or not.
Psychology & Psychiatry
22 hours ago |
4.5 / 5 (2) |
1
|
One in five U.S. kids has a mental health disorder, CDC reports
(HealthDay)—As many as one in five American children under the age of 17 has a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year, according to a new federal report.
Psychology & Psychiatry
May 16, 2013 |
2 / 5 (4) |
1
|
Bach to the blues, our emotions match music to colors
(Medical Xpress)—Whether we're listening to Bach or the blues, our brains are wired to make music-color connections depending on how the melodies make us feel, according to new research from the University ...
Psychology & Psychiatry
May 16, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
|
AIDS science at 30: 'Cure' now part of lexicon
Big names in medicine are set to give an upbeat assessment of the war on AIDS on Tuesday, 30 years after French researchers identified the virus that causes the disease.
For combat veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, 'fear circuitry' in the brain never rests
Chronic trauma can inflict lasting damage to brain regions associated with fear and anxiety. Previous imaging studies of people with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, have shown that these brain regions can over-or ...
Melon focus headband turns to Kickstarter for rollout plans
(Medical Xpress)—What if the quality of your work depends more on your focus on the piano keys or canvas or laptop than your musical or painting or computing skills? If target users can be convinced, they ...
Temporal processing in the olfactory system
The neural machinery underlying our olfactory sense continues to be an enigma for neuroscience. A recent review in Neuron seeks to expand traditional ideas about how neurons in the olfactory bulb might encode information about ...
Now we know why old scizophrenia medicine works on antibiotics-resistant bacteria
In 2008 researchers from the University of Southern Denmark showed that the drug thioridazine, which has previously been used to treat schizophrenia, is also a powerful weapon against antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as ...
Individuals who drink heavily and smoke may show 'early aging' of the brain
Treatment for alcohol use disorders works best if the patient actively understands and incorporates the interventions provided in the clinic. Multiple factors can influence both the type and degree of neurocognitive abnormalities ...