Seizure Drug Used in Pregnancy Boosts Baby’s Autism Risk

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Children born to mothers who took the anti-seizure drug valproate were five times more likely to be born with autism than those whose mothers didn’t take the medication, a Danish study found.

The epilepsy drug was also tied to a three-fold increase of autism spectrum disorder, which includes Asperger syndrome and other developmental disorders, according to research published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.