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Babies Face Risks Due to Antidepressants

 

Women everywhere are wondering if taking antidepressants would affect their pregnancies.  Spreading in the news like wildfire, the risks associated in using antidepressants is a hot topic.  The Food and Drug Association have been receiving complaints about those drugs.  The market has a lot of available antidepressants that consumers can buy. They are not only used by depressed men and women but also by diabetics.  Diabetes and depression has been managed simultaneously in many researches in order to illicit desirable results.

 The men and women who are using antidepressants have been increasing; thus, the FDA has issued a warning. Toward creating new markets and increasing acceptability among women, some pharmaceutical companies are even marketing antidepressants that are safe to take during pregnancy. The rationale is clear: Pregnancy is a sensitive time for women and the drugs that can be taken are generally limited.  Thus the dilemma on taking antidepressants during pregnancy exists.

The risks in using antidepressants should be conveyed to the patients by the doctors, as was advised by the FDA. There were studies conducted for knowing the truth behind their side effects. Scientists are still doing extensive research on it to really understand the ranges of risks and benefits.

Reports of women having problems of birth defects on their babies due to taking antidepressants had reached the FDA.  Using medications during the first trimester is not advisable, most obstetricians and gynecologists say. The first trimester comprises weeks when the baby develops his or her organs and taking medications during this time would affect organ formation.  Using Sertraline or Zoloft during the first trimester may result to particular birth defects associated with it. The exact mechanism of antidepressants at work in users has not been known.

The benefits should outweigh the risks if a woman will take antidepressants all through her pregnancy. Each antidepressant has its own set of risks that a patient needs to watch out for.  A category C was given by the FDA to Zoloft.  Women taking antidepressants during their pregnancy have a 4.5 percentage of the total women who are pregnant, as found in the latest statistics of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Taking Zoloft during pregnancy left women fearing for their baby developing Zoloft birth defects.

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