Intelligence Harmed In Babies Whose Mothers Took Antiepileptic Drug

April 16, 2009 7:26 a.m. EST

Boston, MA (AHN) - Women taking the antiepileptic drug valproate while pregnant risk having babies with lower intelligence compared with epileptic women taking other medications, according to a recent report.

Researchers from Emory University studied women in the United States and Britain between 1999 and 2004 who were taking one of the following antiepileptic drugs - carbamazepine, lamotrigine, phenytion or valproate.

They found that by three years of age, children born to mothers taking valproate had significantly lower IQ scores than children exposed to the other medications in utero, according to the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

On average, the researchers said, children exposed to valproate had IQ scores 9 points lower than those exposed to lamotrigine, 7 points lower than children exposed to phenytoin and 6 points lower than those exposed to carbamazepine.

The researchers recommended that valproate not be the first drug doctors prescribe to pregnant epileptic women.

Eric Hargis, president of the Epilepsy Foundation in Washington, D.C., told the New York Times that despite the study, women on valproate should not stop taking it without consulting with their doctors.