WOMEN - Pregnant women who take SSRI antidepressants are three times more likely to have a child with autism

Pregnant women who take SSRI antidepressants are three times more likely to have a child with autism 

• The effect of  the drugs is particularity pronounced during third trimester
• Researchers suggest rising rates of autism and SSRI use may be linked 
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By ANNA HODGEKISS

PUBLISHED: 16:06 GMT, 17 April 2014 | UPDATED: 16:38 GMT, 17 April 2014

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Women who took SSRIs antidepressants during pregnancy were three times more likely to have a baby boy with autism

Mothers-to-be who take antidepressants have an increased risk of having a child with autism, a study has found.

U.S. researchers say women who took commonly prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors - SSRIs - were three times more likely to have a baby boy with autism or developmental delays. 

The effect of  the drugs, prescribed for depression, anxiety and other disorders, is particularity pronounced during the third trimester, they say.

Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public looked at nearly 1,000 mothers and their babies.

The study, published  online in the journal Pediatrics, looked at data from mother-child pairs in the Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment (CHARGE) Study.

The researchers divided the data up into three groups - children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), those with developmental delays and those with typical development.

All the children were aged between two to five and of them, 82  per cent of those with autism were boys,66 per cent with developmental delay were boys, as were 86 per cent of those with typical development. 

While the study included girls, the substantially stronger effect in boys alone suggests they may be much more susceptible for the effects of SSRIs in the womb, the researchers concluded. 

'We found prenatal SSRI exposure was nearly three times as likely in boys with autism relative to typical development, with the greatest risk when exposure took place during the first trimester,' said study author Li-Ching Lee.

'SSRI was also elevated among boys with developmental delay, with the strongest exposure effect in the third trimester.'

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The effect of the drugs, prescribed for depression, anxiety and other disorders, is particularity pronounced during the third trimester

The 'happy' hormone serotonin is critical to early brain development, so the researchers suggest exposure during pregnancy to anything that influences serotonin levels can have potential effect on birth and developmental outcomes.

With diagnoses of autism on the rise, they suggest increased use of SSRIs in recent years may be contributing to this.

Commenting on the study, Irva Hertz-Picciotto, chief of the Division of Environmental and Occupational Health at UC Davis, said: 'This study provides further evidence that in some children, prenatal exposure to SSRIs may influence their risk for developing an autism spectrum disorder.

'This research also highlights the challenge for women and their physicians to balance the risks versus the benefits of taking these medications, given that a mother's underlying mental-health conditions also may pose a risk, both to herself and her child.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2607032/Pregnant-women-SSRI-antidepressants-increase-childs-risk-autism.html#ixzz2zBl4yExO
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