To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: DG Dispatch - AAN: Folate May Not Be Recommended In Women Taking Anti-Epileptics URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/F93DA.htm Doctor's Guide April 23, 1999
By Cameron Johnston Special to DG News
TORONTO, ON -- April 23, 1999 -- Pregnant mothers taking sodium valproate may be at risk of giving birth to a child with physical deformities even if she is taking folate supplements, a study presented at the American Academy of Neurology meeting shows.
The study looked at the offspring of 52 Canadian women who went through 63 pregnancies. The results show that five percent of these children were born with neural tube defects, 10 percent had major birth defects, and 12 percent had what would be considered minor birth defects such as harelip and cleft palate.
Expectant mothers who were taking more than one anti-epileptic drug -- valproate and carbamazepine in particular -- had a 22 percent risk of having a child with birth defects.
Dr. Susan Duncan describes as "disturbing" the fact that these women were taking folate to minimize the risk of neural tube defects and yet they were the ones who seemed to have the worst outcomes. Folate is routinely recommended during pregnancy.
Dr. Duncan is a consultant neurologist based in Manchester, England, but worked on this study while working at the Montreal Neurological Hospital.
"It may be related to how the mother handles valproate and folate. It might not upregulate their folate binding proteins so they don't metabolize folate and valproate," she said. "In the future, if we could identify those women, we might be able to establish what women who we should avoid giving valproate to."
Patients involved in the study were taking from 750 to 2000 mg of valproate per day, which Dr. Duncan said is high compared with British standards.
The study involved only women in Canada who were taking valproate and was part of a much larger world-wide investigation of birth defects in the children of 960 mothers who had been taking anti-epileptic medications. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.