Older Epilepsy Drugs Have Birth Defect Risk -Study
Tue Sep 7, 2004
Source: Yahoo News

LONDON (Reuters) - Pregnant women suffering from epilepsy need to better informed about the risks of birth defects from treatments used to control their seizures, researchers said on Tuesday.

The risk of serious birth defects such as a small head or stunted growth from anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) is about 2 to 3 percent but a study of pregnancy registers showed it can be much higher with an older treatment.

"These preliminary but very informative results clearly show that not all AEDs are equally safe for the exposed children of pregnant women of childbearing potential," said Diego Wyszynski, of Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health.