Children born to mothers who took the epilepsy drug Valproate (Depakine) during their pregnancy are significantly worse off than others in school, according to a new study. We are talking here about the results of “primary school and college”, in mathematics in particular.
Children born to mothers who took the epilepsy drug Valproate (Depakine) during their pregnancy have significantly decreased academic performance, according to new research from Aarhus University in Denmark. These results are published in JAMA Neurology.
480,000 Danish children
Women with epilepsy should make sure they do not have a seizure when they become pregnant. The developing baby is at some subsequent risk of direct trauma to the mother’s abdomen during a violent seizure. There is also the risk of a major seizure which temporarily deprives him of oxygen. Mum falls are also possible.
The researchers analyzed the medical records of nearly 480,000 Danish children, all born between 1997 and 2006, as well as their academic performance. As a result, those whose mothers took Valproate during their pregnancy performed significantly worse in school than those whose mothers took other types of epilepsy medication or no medication at all.
Academic results of “primary school and college”
We are talking here about the academic results of “primary school and college”, in mathematics in particular. The team had previously found an association between the consumption of Valproate during pregnancy, and birth defects as well as autistic disorders.
Not to recommend the use of Valproate in pregnant women would therefore be obvious. “However, some pregnant women cannot avoid epileptic seizures if they do not take Valproate”, shades Jakob Christensen, author of the research. “It may therefore be necessary to treat women with epilepsy with Valproate during pregnancy, even though there are risks.” In any case, the results of this study warn against the use of Valproate in women of childbearing age.
600,000 patients
It is estimated that 600,000 patients suffer from epilepsy in France. Almost half of them are under the age of 20. Internationally, the incidence of the disease would be 50 to 100 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (depending on the level of income and the country’s healthcare system), or 60 million patients.
Overall, the average lifespan of an epileptic patient is slightly less than that of the general population, mainly because of the risk of accidental death during a seizure (drowning, fall, accident). As for the specific sudden deaths of certain forms of epilepsy, they remain rare (30,000 per year in the world, 115 in 5 years in France).
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