Paxil and Effexor: Higher Risk of Miscarriage

Study Links Antidepressant Use and Miscarriage
A 68 percent increase in the overall risk of miscarriage in pregnant women using antidepressants
Scientists at University of Montreal report Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal that women taking the drugs most often prescribed to treat depression and anxiety — including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) and the older tricyclics — had a significantly higher risk of miscarriage than a matched control group of women who did not take antidepressants. The study is the first of its kind to analyze which antidepressants and which doses are most likely to be associated with spontaneous abortion. Led by Anick Bérard at the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Montreal, the research team also documented that two SSRIs, paroxetine (Paxil) and venlafaxine (Effexor), are associated with the greatest risk.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1992988,00.html

From Natural Health News: One of 38 related articles
http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2008/03/fluoride-is-not-cure-for-mothers-or.html

Did you ever consider that poor nutrition, the no-fat/lo-fat diet, and hormone imbalance might also be a factor that your health provider is overlooking in regard to your mood? Consider "Health Forensics".

Flying High on SSRIs

Now that the FAA has lifted the ban on pilots using SSRI antidepressants, perhaps you'd like to read this commentary excerpt from another natural health advocate -

"Dr. Peter Breggin, a court certified psychiatric expert and author of numerous books on psychiatric drugs, reveals how GSK not only concealed negative studies, but also manipulated data about Paxil-induced suicidality so that actual suicide attempts in clinical trials were underreported, while attempts by subjects taking a placebo were inflated. According to Dr. Breggin, drug companies settle almost all lawsuits out of court in order to seal incriminating scientific data. “This deprives the FDA, medical profession and public of critical information on drug safety and efficacy,” he says.

There were 39,000 adverse event reports submitted to the FDA’s Medwatch, according to award-winning investigative reporter, Robert Whitaker. And that number is said to represent only about 1% of the actual number of adverse events. “So, if we get 39,000 adverse event reports about Prozac,” Mr. Whitaker said in an interview for Street Spirit in August 2005, “the number of people who have actually suffered such problems is estimated to be 100 times as many, or roughly four million people.”  Complete article