Article by Robert Levine
People who take medications are usually informed by their health care providers to be on the lookout for adverse effects and/or side effects. The medical terminologies have been repeatedly interchanged but actually, the two have different meanings. Side effects are unwanted effects of the medication but they are expected to happen, whereas adverse effects are undesirable effects of the medication that are not foreseen to happen but can still possibly take place. Zoloft, an antidepressant, has been connected with birth defect developments in babies born to women who took the medication when pregnant. Birth defects are under adverse effects for Zoloft. Warnings were issued by the FDA on Zoloft and its association with birth defects but a woman cannot just stop the medication immediately as it is there to manage her depression. Zoloft (sertraline hydrochloride) is under the SSRI drug classification of antidepressants. This is usually prescribed to individuals with depression. It belongs to the Pregnancy Category C as indicated by the FDA which states that there is risk for the fetus but the therapeutic effects may justify the use of the medication in pregnant women. Some of the birth defects believed to be caused by Zoloft are:
• Heart DefectsThe most common heart defects associated with Zoloft are the septal defects, ventricular and atrial. • CleftsSome babies whose mothers took Zoloft during pregnancy had craniofacial anomalies such as cleft lip and cleft palate.• Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension (PPHN)This defect is marked by severe respiratory difficulty by the neonate which would require intensive hospitalization. • Delayed developmentNot only is Zoloft linked with physical birth defects but with the development of the child as well. Babies born to women who took the medication when pregnant had developmental delays especially in walking and sitting upright.• Neural Tube DefectsNeural tube defects such as spina bifida and spinal cord injuries are also believed to be an effect of taking the antidepressant when pregnant. Neural tube defects (NTDs) are birth defects of the brain and spinal wire. throughout the third and fourth week of pregnancy the embryonic neural tube develops and begins to shut, forming what is going to become the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). When the neural tube of an embryo fails to shut fully, an NTD happens.
Exercise could be effective antidepressant but it might not suffice for some.These are some of the serious birth defects that can be considered as adverse effects of Zoloft and the sufferers have reportedly filed lawsuits with these Zoloft birth defects as basis.
