Women who take antidepressants during pregnancy put their babies at an increased risk of childhood diabetes and obesity, a new study finds.
A woman's behavior and lifestyle while pregnant has a big impact on her child. In a new study, researchers found that women who take antidepressants during pregnancy put their babies at an increased risk of childhood diabetes and obesity.
"Obesity and Type 2 diabetes in children is on the rise and there is the argument that it is related to lifestyle and availability of high calorie foods and reduced physical activity, but our study has found that maternal antidepressant use may also be a contributing factor to the obesity and diabetes epidemic," said the study's senior investigator Alison Holloway, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at McMaster University in a press statement. "While it is known that these drugs can increase the risk of obesity in adults, it is unknown whether a woman's antidepressant use during pregnancy increases the risk of metabolic disturbances in her children."
It is a known fact that that more than 20 percent of pregnant women in the United States undergo depression and are prescribed antidepressants for their condition. A national survey revealed that 11 percent of pregnant women experienced major depression in 2012.
Researchers found that the frequent use of any antidepressant may lead to the development of fatty liver, which is commonly associated with obesity. This is especially prominent in women who use a class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. These increase fat accumulation and inflammation in the liver of the user, resulting in long-term complications in children born to these women.
The researchers clarified that their results don't suggest that pregnant woman should avoid taking during pregnancy. They also didn't find the exact mechanism that increases these health risks.
"If we can understand how the antidepressant causes adverse metabolic outcomes in the offspring than we can design therapeutic strategies to prevent the damage while allowing women who require these drugs to be treated but reduce the potential harm to the offspring, the researchers said.
Previous studies have also linked taking antidepressants while pregnant to an increased risk of heart diseases in infants. However, a very recent study debunked this theory due to lack of proper evidence. Pregnancy-related depression can be treated using talk therapy or by taking antidepressants. Leaving depression untreated could result in complications such as low birth-weight or premature birth.
The current study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (ACH).
