Despite several studies, the cause of autism in children is still unknown. However, many causes of autism have been discussed; among them is heredity, which is about 90 percent and childhood immunizations. Despite several clinical studies, no scientific evidence associating Immunization and autism was shown.
Recently, Anne Harding's article published in the Cable News Network website, reported on several studies linking autism with antidepressant drugs. Children whose mothers are under antidepressant medication like Zoloft during pregnancy are twice as likely as other children to be diagnosed with autism or other related disorder, it say In other current news reports, another Pfizer antidepressant drug has been blamed for causing the death of an infant.
This class of antidepressants, known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), to which Zoloft belongs, is risky during pregnancy. According to Harding, those children exposed to the drugs in the first trimester were nearly four times likely to develop an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) than with unexposed children, as was stated in an article published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
Major depressive illness, anxiety disorders, the depressed phase of bipolar disorder, and psychotic depression are the mental illness for which SSRI, a class of antidepressant drugs, is used as a treatment.
What Hardings wrote about on her article is that the experts on prenatal drug exposure and mental health don’t want to discourage women from starting or continuing SSRIs use because confirmation is still needed by more studies.
On the other hand, Lisa Croen, Ph. D, the director of autism research at Kaiser Permanente North California, says her colleagues thought of investigating a possible SSRI-autism link for two reasons.First, there is a rise in autism rates over the past several decades. Second, evidence from previous studies suggests that people with autism have abnormalities in their levels and regulation of serotonin, a brain chemical involved in mood and many other biological processes.
Though, there is still no medical evidence made available associating SSRIs with Autism. The success of any Zoloft lawsuit will depend on the evidences that can be gathered about SSRIs causing autism in children.
REFERENCES:
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/07/04/antidepressant.pregnancy.autism.risk/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_autism
Recently, Anne Harding's article published in the Cable News Network website, reported on several studies linking autism with antidepressant drugs. Children whose mothers are under antidepressant medication like Zoloft during pregnancy are twice as likely as other children to be diagnosed with autism or other related disorder, it say In other current news reports, another Pfizer antidepressant drug has been blamed for causing the death of an infant.
This class of antidepressants, known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), to which Zoloft belongs, is risky during pregnancy. According to Harding, those children exposed to the drugs in the first trimester were nearly four times likely to develop an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) than with unexposed children, as was stated in an article published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
Major depressive illness, anxiety disorders, the depressed phase of bipolar disorder, and psychotic depression are the mental illness for which SSRI, a class of antidepressant drugs, is used as a treatment.
What Hardings wrote about on her article is that the experts on prenatal drug exposure and mental health don’t want to discourage women from starting or continuing SSRIs use because confirmation is still needed by more studies.
On the other hand, Lisa Croen, Ph. D, the director of autism research at Kaiser Permanente North California, says her colleagues thought of investigating a possible SSRI-autism link for two reasons.First, there is a rise in autism rates over the past several decades. Second, evidence from previous studies suggests that people with autism have abnormalities in their levels and regulation of serotonin, a brain chemical involved in mood and many other biological processes.
Though, there is still no medical evidence made available associating SSRIs with Autism. The success of any Zoloft lawsuit will depend on the evidences that can be gathered about SSRIs causing autism in children.
REFERENCES:
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/07/04/antidepressant.pregnancy.autism.risk/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_autism
RSS Feed