(NaturalNews) Back in 2005, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
warned that exposure to the antidepressant paroxetine (sold as Paxil,
Paxil CR, and Pexeva) in the first trimester of pregnancy might increase
the risk for birth defects, especially heart problems. Did this halt
the widespread prescribing of paroxetine and other antidepressants for
pregnant women? Unfortunately, the answer is no.

In fact, background information in a just published study in CMAJ (the
Canadian Medical Association Journal) notes the drugs are frequently
used in pregnancy. Almost 4 percent of pregnant women take them at some
point during the first trimester -- and the result can be tragic. The
new research concludes expectant moms taking antidepressants have an
astounding 68 percent increase in the overall risk of miscarriage.

Most previous studies on the use of these medications in pregnancy have been
small and haven't looked as miscarriages as a main outcome. But this
large study by researchers from the University of Montreal and the
Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center (CHU Ste-Justine) evaluated
the association between antidepressant use in pregnancy in detail --
analyzing classes, types and doses of the drugs and the risk of
miscarriage.

In all, the scientists investigated data on 5124 women in Quebec from a large population-based cohort of pregnant women
who had miscarried by 20 weeks of gestation. Then they compared their
findings to a large sample of women from the same registry who carried
their babies full term. Of the women who lost their babies, 284 had
taken antidepressants during pregnancy.Selective serotonin reuptake
inhibitors (SSRIs), especially paroxetine, were associated with the
increased risk of miscarriage. Venlafaxine (sold under the brand names
Effexor, Alventa, Argofan, and Trevilor), which is the sixth most
commonly prescribed antidepressant in the U.S., belongs to another
slightly different class of SSRIs called arylalkanolamine
serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) and, like
paroxetine, it was also especially likely to cause miscarriages. In
addition, higher daily doses of antidepressants and a combination of
different drugs raised the risk substantially.

"These results, which suggest an overall class effect of selective serotonin reuptake
inhibitors, are highly robust given the large number of users studied,"
Dr. Anick Berard of the University of Montreal and the Director of the
Research Unit on Medications and Pregnancy at CHU Ste-Justine wrote in
the article.

Overall, an astounding number of Americans, some 27 million, now take SSRIs. However, as NaturalNews has previously
reported, new dangers from these drugs continue to be uncovered. For
example, last December Albert Einstein College of Medicine researchers
announced their findings that taking SSRIs significantly raises the risk
of strokes and death in women after menopause (http://www.naturalnews.com/027841_S...).

For more information:
http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/doi/10.1503/...