So, according to a new study, women who take valproate for epilepsy while pregnant are about six times more likely to have autistic children.
There are a few things I could say about the study's results, and I will. I'll even put it in a handy bullet-point format.
-I find it kind of unnerving that a single group -- one that's known for bending statistics in their favor, at that -- is funding most of the valproate studies. It doesn't make the studies necessarily wrong, but it means they're going to need extra scrutiny. Said study doesn't look very well-controlled, either. (On the plus side, if the valproate studies are right, it means (hopefully) less "omg vaccines are killing our children!" attitude.)
-If prenatal chemical exposure is a primary cause of autism, that means that autistic people are born autistic. The numbers in this particular study are too small to make valproate exposure a definitive cause, and there are a lot of mothers of autistic children who've never taken anti-seizure medications in their lives, but this is yet another indicator that autism occurs prenatally. Kind of puts a dent in the "there's no such thing as autism, just bad behavior/poor parenting" attitude that seems to be making a comeback.
-Again, if chemical exposure is a primary cause of autism, it makes for a tough choice for the mother. Can she afford to go off the meds in order to have a baby? Should she stay on the medications and incur the risk? (I'm kind of biased in the matter, being on the autistic spectrum and all, and I'm against eradicating autism, but I understand how many families might not be able to handle a special-needs child.)
-If more studies confirm this, I wonder if the difficulty of getting valproate will increase. I know a lot of doctors won't prescribe certain medications to any woman who could possibly have a baby, regardless of what precautions she's willing to take or whether she's even in a position to get pregnant. I also know that the problem with a lot of medications is finding the right one. A woman for whom valproate is most effective shouldn't have to change doctors in order to get a prescription.
So, yeah. I'm taking this study with a spoonful of salt (a grain is not enough!), and I'll be watching to see how it pans out.
