Common drugs taken by millions of pregnant women linked to autism in children

Anti-inflammatory drugs taken by millions of pregnant women around the world may increase the risk of autism in their babies.

One study looked at the impact on children exposed to glucocorticoids – a class of steroids – in the womb.

Those exposed to the drugs prenatally were between 30 and 50 percent more likely to be diagnosed with autism compared to children whose mothers did not take them.

The study also linked glucocorticoids – including prednisone and cortisone – to a higher risk of intellectual disability, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anxiety.

Glucocorticoids mimic the hormone cortisol, which is produced by the adrenal gland and is known for its anti-inflammatory effect.

They are prescribed to pregnant women at risk of preterm labor because they also aid in organ development and maturation of the fetus.

The drugs are also given to pregnant women suffering from autoimmune or inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and asthma, because they dampen the immune response.

However, the new study suggests that if babies are exposed to excessive amounts of glucocorticoids, it can negatively alter their brain development.

It is estimated that two to three percent of the population is currently prescribed glucocorticoids.

And in the US the The most common glucocorticoid drugs are prednisone, triamcinolone acetonide and methylprednisolone.

The steroids betamethasone and dexamethasone, which cross the placenta, are used in people at risk of premature birth and both are usually injected into the mother’s arm, leg or buttocks.

Some side effects of long-term use of glucocorticoids have been known for decades. The most common are weight gain and the joint disease osteoporosis.

But the newest body of research from Denmark suggests the drugs may also harm babies’ developing brains.

Researchers looked at the development of more than 1 million babies born between 1996 and 2016.

Of the 1.1 million children, more than 300,000 were exposed to glucocorticoids in the womb.

Some women in the study had been given steroids to prevent premature birth, while the vast majority of mothers had been given the drug to treat autoimmune or inflammatory conditions.

Researchers revisited the children fifteen years later and checked their medical histories to see how glucocorticoid exposure had affected them.

Children born to mothers at risk for preterm birth who took glucocorticoids were 50 percent more likely to be diagnosed with autism than children whose mothers were not exposed to the drugs.

The risk of intellectual disability and ADHD was 30 percent higher in the exposed group of children.

And mood, anxiety and stress-related disorders were 50 percent higher.

For the children of mothers with autoimmune or inflammatory diseases, the risk of autism and ADHD was 30 percent higher in the exposed group, while mood problems and intellectual disabilities were 40 percent higher.

The researchers say their data support “continued caution” in the use of glucocorticoids in pregnant women.

In pregnant women with autoimmune or inflammatory diseases, they state that alternative medications “may be safer and may reduce glucocorticoid use, but the evidence is lacking and more research is needed.”