Weekly Roundup for July 28, 2017: Recent Publications in Women’s Mental Health
A light week. Untreated perinatal paternal depression: Effects on offspring. Gentile S, Fusco ML.Psychiatry Res. 2017 Jun;252:325-332. Review. Untreated perinatal paternal depression negatively affects child development. Family-centred approaches may improve the effectiveness of perinatal mental health programs. Reduction of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) in patients with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Yamada K, Kamagata E. Qual Life Res. 2017 Jul 3. During their reproductive years, patients with untreated PMDD are expected to [...]
No Association Between Intellectual Disability and Prenatal Antidepressant Exposure
We have long been interested in understanding the effects of prenatal exposure to antidepressants on the development of the fetal brain. The earliest studies addressing this question were small but yielded detailed (and reassuring) information regarding the cognitive development of children exposed to antidepressants in utero. The findings of these studies supported the hypothesis that prenatal exposure to SSRI antidepressants has no long-term negative effects on the child’s cognitive development. More [...]
Weekly Roundup for July 21, 2017: Recent Publications in Women’s Mental Health
There a few new articles on the impact of antidepressant use during pregnancy. Viktorin and colleagues demonstrated no increase in risk for intellectual disability in children with prenatal exposure to antidepressants. Rai and colleagues demonstrated a small increase in risk of autism (without intellectual disability) in children exposed prenatally to antidepressants. We will be covering those two papers in greater detail next week. Ruta Nonacs, MD PhD Association of Antidepressant [...]
Is Psychiatric Illness a Risk Factor for Hyperemesis Gravidarum?
While the majority of pregnant women experience nausea and/or vomiting during the first trimester of pregnancy, a smaller subset of women -- around 1% -- experience more severe and intractable vomiting, or hyperemesis gravidarum (HG). If left untreated, prolonged hyperemesis can lead to weight loss, dehydration, nutrient deficiencies and electrolyte disturbances. We do not fully understand what causes hyperemesis gravidarum. It is thought that it may be triggered in [...]
Alcohol Use in Pregnancy: Even Low Levels of Alcohol Exposure Associated with Craniofacial Abnormalities
While different countries may have different attitudes toward the consumption of alcohol during pregnancy, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has taken a firm stand against the use of alcohol during pregnancy. In the report entitled "Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders," published in the November 2015 issue of Pediatrics, the AAP identified prenatal exposure to alcohol as the leading preventable cause of birth defects and intellectual and neurodevelopmental disabilities in children, stating [...]
Evolving practice in perinatal psychopharmacology: Lessons learned
The following post was first published in OB/GYN News. Please see our OB/GYN News archives here. Publish date: July 3, 2017 Over the last 2 decades, there has been a growing interest in establishing a rich evidence base for treatment of psychiatric illness in pregnancy and the postpartum period. It seems as if a week does not go by when we don’t find multiple publications in the scientific literature describing a new [...]