Two
newer epilepsy drugs may not harm the thinking skills or intelligence quotients
(IQs) of school-aged children whose mothers took them while pregnant, but an
older drug is linked to cognitive problems in children,
especially if their mothers took high doses – according to new research from
The University of Manchester, reports NaijaAgroNet.
Valproate,
one of the most commonly prescribed antiepileptic medications, has been
associated in the past with birth defects and developmental problems.
NaijaAgroNet,
however, reports that two newer drugs, namely levetiracetam and topirimate have
had little or no investigations into their developmental impact until this
latest research, published in the August 31, 2016, issue of Neurology,
the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Lead
researcher and author of the paper Dr Rebecca Bromley of The University of
Manchester’s School of Biological Sciences, said expectant mothers had to know
the possible impacts their drug regimes may have on unborn children.
“Over
the past few years, doctors have been moving away from prescribing valproate to
pregnant women, shifting them to the two newer anti-epileptic drugs. But, until
now, there hasn’t been any definitive research to understand what implications
for IQ and development these two drugs may have.
“Working
with funding from Epilepsy Research UK, our team was able to undertake a
rigorous set of tests on the children of 171 women who had taken one of the
three drugs while pregnant. From the results, we have concluded that – at the
moment – levetiracetam and topiramate have no discernable impact on childhood
intellectual development.
“However
promising a start our findings are, we do acknowledge larger studies need to be
carried out regularly to ensure these drugs do not change the thinking
abilities of children in the future.”
The
171 mothers were identified using the UK Epilepsy and Pregnancy Register; each
had a child between five and nine years old. Of these 171 women, 42 had taken
levetiracetam, 27 had taken topirimate and 47 had taken valproate while
pregnant – an additional control group of women with similarly-aged children
who had not taken any antiepileptic drug while pregnant was also included in
the study.
Dr
Bromley and her team performed tests on their children to measure IQ, verbal
and non-verbal comprehension, and the speed at which they could process visual
information.
Regardless
of the level of dose of medication, the topirimate and levetiracetam-prescribed
group showed no discernible difference in IQ or thinking skills compared to the
control group.
However,
the valproate group had an average IQ 11 points lower than the control, levetiracetam
and topirimate cohort.
“Expectant
mothers with epilepsy may need to continue their drug regime during pregnancy;
this research may give them some reassurance that – provided they are
prescribed topirimate and levetiracetam – they will a statistically good chance
of normal, healthy development in their children,” concluded Dr Bromley.
