For the investigation, the scientists inquired almost 28,000 chicks if and when they accepted Celexa, Lexapro, Prozac, Paxil or Zoloft at any time as short as one month…
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Zoloft was the most commonly used SSRI, but none of the five previously reported associations between Zoloft and birth defects were confirmed.
However, the authors of the study, who included experts from the USA’s respected Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stressed that the actual increased risk of already rare defects was small in each case.
“Continued scrutiny of the association between SSRIs and birth defects is warranted, and additional studies of specific SSRI treatments during pregnancy are needed to enable women and their healthcare providers to make more informed decisions about treatment”, they wrote. Five previously reported birth defects associated with Paxil were also seen. It did not find an increased risk with other drugs such as Zoloft, Celexa and Lexapro. Paxil use was associated with a defect in which a baby’s intestines protrude outside the body and with anencephaly, in which a baby is missing parts of the brain and skull, the study found. Only two in the study, Prozac, sold generically as paroxetine, and Paxil, sold generically as fluoxetine, were implicated. The risk of a heart defect while taking Paxil is 24 cases for every 10,000 pregnancies.
“It should be terribly reassuring”, to women because it means they have many safe choices for treating depression during pregnancy, Edward McCabe, medical director of the March of Dimes, said. They, they analyzed whether women who took certain medications were more likely to have children with birth defects than women who did not take those medications.
This new study, meanwhile, wants to determine whether the risks of birth defects are present regardless of what type of anti-depressant.
The findings are reminders for women to always consult their doctors before taking any medication, especially during pregnancy.
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Commenting on the study, Dr Michael Bloomfield, clinical lecturer in psychiatry at University College London, said: “The ways in which these drugs might potentially increase the risk of these birth defects needs further study”.
