After analyzing 145,456 case studies from the Quebec Pregnancy Cohort, the researchers concluded that there is a “biological plausibility” that these 2 drugs in particular cause a significant increase of autism, although no concrete evidence was determined and the reasons for any correlation remained unknown at the conclusion of the study.
However, the researchers noted that they
found 1,054 children who were diagnosed with autism at 4 years old on
the average. This was an 87% increase of autism in children of mothers
who took Prozac or Seroxat during the 2nd and 3rd trimesters.
According to the press release : “the prevalence of autism
among children has increased from 4 in 10,000 children in 1966 to 100
in 10,000 today. While that increase can be attributed to both better
detection and widening criteria for diagnosis, researchers believe that
environmental factors are also playing a part.”
Professor Anick Bérard, lead author of the study, explained :
“Because we have studied antidepressants for such a long time now, we
were expecting to find an association — but not such a huge association
between the most used class of antidepressants during pregnancy, which
is the SSRIs.”
Bérard added: “The variety of causes of
autism remain unclear, but studies have shown that both genetics and
environment can play a role. Our study has established that taking
antidepressants during the second or third trimester of pregnancy almost
doubles the risk that the child will be diagnosed with autism by age 7,
especially if the mother takes selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors,
often known by its acronym SSRIs.”