Valproate Exposure Associated With Autism, Lower IQ

[The Straight Story]

Valproate Exposure Associated With Autism, Lower IQ

BALTIMORE – In utero exposure to valproate appears to increase the risk of significant adverse effects on fetal brain development that persist into childhood.

In two separate studies, children whose mothers took valproate during pregnancy had a higher risk for lower IQ and other cognitive deficiencies, as well as autism and other disorders along the autistic spectrum. "All women with epilepsy of childbearing potential should be informed of the risks. I feel that valproate should not be a first choice antiepileptic drug in women of childbearing potential," Dr. Kimford J. Meador, director of the Emory Epilepsy Center and professor of neurology at Emory University, Atlanta, said in an interview.

The cognition data come from the NEAD (Neurodevelopmental Effects of Antiepileptic Drugs) study, a prospective observational study that enrolled pregnant women who were using any of several antiepileptic-drug monotherapies from October 1999 through February 2004 in 25 epilepsy centers in the United States and the United Kingdom. Dr. Meador and his colleagues previously published interim NEAD data showing impaired cognitive function in 309 offspring at 3 years of age (N. Engl. J. Med. 2009;360:1597-1605).

In June 2011, the Food and Drug Administration issued a safety alert about the increased risk of impaired cognitive development in children exposed to valproate products in utero.

http://www.clinicalpsychiatrynews.com/single-view/valproate-exposure-associated-with-autism-lower-iq/e9df590815.html

But, how can this be? It was made by scientists and approved by peer review, etc? If I don't trust this med it means I am anti-science (Am I doing this right? :rofl: )

[hobbit709]

1. so what is the percentage of kids with autism born to mothers with seizures

compared to the total number of autism?
Unfortunately, ALL drugs have deleterious side effects in some people-especially during pregnancy.

[The Straight Story]

2. Study Provides More Evidence of Autism Immune Component

Study Provides More Evidence of Autism Immune Component

Evidence increasingly supports the notion of an autoimmune version of autism, and a new study involving specific autoantibodies that are directed at fetal brain tissue and that are found in a modest proportion of mothers with an autistic child, bolsters this theory.

In an earlier study, researchers at the Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (MIND) Institute at the University of California, Davis, demonstrated that 12% of women with an autistic child had "unusual" antibodies not present in mothers of typically developing children or in mothers of children with other intellectual developmental disorders. Since this raised the hypothesis that the antibodies, which were immunoglobulin G and thus cross the placenta, might be interacting with the fetal brain, leading to disregulation of development (and ultimately to autism), the researchers expanded their study by testing the effects of the antibodies in pregnant Rhesus monkeys.

They found that the offspring of monkeys injected with the IgG showed distinctive autistic characteristics, David G. Amaral, Ph.D., research director at the MIND Institute, reported at the annual meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

Specifically, pregnant monkeys were injected over a 6-week period with either purified autoantibodies to fetal brain proteins from the blood of the mothers of children with autism, or with autoantibodies from mothers with typically developing children. The offspring of the monkeys injected with autoantibodies from mothers with an autistic child – but not those injected with samples from mothers of typically developing children, demonstrated social impairment and stereotypic behaviors across several behavioral testing paradigms, Dr. Amaral said during a press briefing held in conjunction with the meeting.

http://www.clinicalpsychiatrynews.com/single-view/study-provides-more-evidence-of-autism-immune-component/367ddbdb0d.html

[Frank Cannon]

4. One day very soon, we WILL find out what causes autism.

And on that day, I will cackle with glee as Jenny McCarthy is sued into the 22nd century.

[Lance_Boyle]

3. Drugs are *very* seldom tested on pregnant women prior to approval.

There is an entire section of the Federal regulations governing clinical trials that makes it so. While I can certainly understand the reasoning behind the rule, there ought to be an easier path to exceptions, such as when when standard of care is known to have a very low chance of success but the test drug, while quite possibly teratogenic, shows promise in saving the life of the expectant mother. That said, clinicians need to not be so cavalier in continuing women who become pregnant on drugs that have not been adequately studied in that population. Yes, if you get pregnant you should have a 9-month holiday from most drugs, even if they benefit your quality of life.

And yes, your last sentence comes off as pretty wacky anti-science. Perhaps you were unaware that it is quite literally impossible to perform clinical drug research that includes pregnant women among the study population?