PRENATAL ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUG USE LINKED TO 600 PERCENT INCREASE IN LIFE-THREATENING LUNG DISORDER IN NEWBORNS

A study in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has found that women taking antidepressants during the second half of pregnancy run six times the risk of having a child born with a life-threatening lung disorder.

The study, published in the Feb. 9 issue of NEJM, found that the babies suffering from the lung disorder known as persistent pulmonary hypertention cannot get enough oxygen into their bloodstreams because of high pressure in the blood vessels of their lungs, apparently brought on by their mother's use of antidepressants during pregnancy. One in 1,000 newborns typically develops the disorder shortly after birth.

The study has led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to call for manufacturers of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) -- including Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft and Lexapro --

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ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUGS FOUND TO CAUSE BIRTH COMPLICATIONS

A new warning is being issued about pregnant women taking antidepressant drugs. It turns out that taking such drugs during late pregnancy puts the health of their babies at risk and leads to birth complications that may require prolonged hospitalization, breathing support, and tube feeding. This warning applies to all SSRI drugs, or what's called Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, which include drugs like Prozac and other popular antidepressants. The warning comes from Health Canada, and is a latest in a series of warnings being publicized about the dangers of taking prescription drugs.

Of course, informed readers already know that prescription drugs pose significant health hazards to human beings, but when they are taken by pregnant women, they pose an even greater hazard because they effect the health of two human beings.

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