Posts Tagged 'birth defects'

In a guest blog entry for Boston NPR station WBUR, Dr. Adam C. Urato, MD, maternal-fetal medicine physician at Tufts Medical Center, writes of his alarm at the growing body of literature indicating that it’s risky for pregnant women to take antidepressants.

Urato makes reference to two recent articles showing that antidepressant use by pregnant women is associated with preterm birth, one of which also showed increased rates of neonatal seizures ...

More people without any documented psychiatric condition are taking antidepressants and getting them prescribed by doctors who aren’t psychiatrists, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The article mentions a study finding that nearly three-quarters of antidepressants in the U.S. were prescribed by non-psychiatrists in 2007, up from 60% a decade earlier. The study drew on the analysis of a national sample of 233,144 doctor office visits, the latest ...

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says pregnant women who are suffering symptoms of depression must consider the consequences of treatment.

ACOG, in collaboration with the American Psychiatric Association, put out a report designed to help doctors and patients weigh the risks and benefits of various treatment options.

A description of the report on ACOG’s Website says: “Both depression symptoms and the use of antidepressant medications during pregnancy have been associated ...

Bloomberg reports on a study that suggests a link between psychiatric medicines that get into the drinking water supply, and autism.

The study published in the journal PLoS ONE found that fish exposed to antidepressants Prozac and Effexor, as well as anti-seizure drug Tegratol, showed gene patterns similar to those found in people with autism. Researchers said the findings suggest that small amounts of psychiatric medicines found in the drinking water ...

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, depressive disorder can take several different forms.

The Institute makes a distinction between a short-lived feeling of sadness that lasts several days, and a long-term condition that interferes with daily life.

The condition is treatable. The Institute cites medication and psychotherapy as effective treatments.

But recent research suggests that some treatments may come with harmful side effects. A number of studies indicate antidepressants classified as ...