Up to a quarter of all women suffer from depression during pregnancy, and many are reluctant to take antidepressants. Now a new study suggests that acupuncture may provide some relief during pregnancy, even though it has not been found to be an effective treatment against depression in general.
The Stanford University study recruited 150 depressed women who were 12 to 30 weeks pregnant, and randomly assigned 52 to receive acupuncture specifically designed for depressive symptoms, 49 to regular acupuncture and 49 to Swedish massage.
Each woman received 12 sessions of 25 minutes each; those given acupuncture did not know which type they were getting. (In the depression-specific treatment, needles are inserted at body points that are said to correspond to symptoms like anxiety, withdrawal and apathy.)
After eight weeks, almost two-thirds of the women who had depression-specific acupuncture experienced a reduction in at least 50 percent of their symptoms, compared with just under half of the women treated with either massage or regular acupuncture.
There was no significant difference in the rates of complete remission — about a third in each group. The findings appear in the March issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
The lead author, Rachel Manber, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford, said the results suggested that some symptoms of depression during pregnancy might be related to physical discomfort that is alleviated by acupuncture.
Still, the results were striking, she said, adding, “It’s quite remarkable, especially since the prevalence of depression is highest in the third trimester of pregnancy, so it goes against the course of how you would expect depression to go.”
via Vital Signs – Pregnancy – Some Depression Relief, Without Drugs – NYTimes.com.
Dr. Court’s Comments
Taking any drug is dangerous during pregnancy. The fact that acupuncture can provide some relief is wonderful news. Tissues that are most likely to be affected by pharmaceuticals are tissues with high metabolic activity. Every single tissue in a baby’s body is highly metabolically active because it is growing so fast. What is particularly scary is that most doctors will say you must weigh the benefits of taking them against the risks, yet antidepressants have shown to be no better than placebo at helping depression! To expose a growing fetus to a drug that has little to no actual value should be criminal.
Below is a list of drugs that are approved for use to treat depression and their potential side effects on growing babies.
Citalopram (Celexa)
Risks: Has been associated with a rare but serious newborn lung problem (persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn, or PPHN) when taken during the last half of pregnancy; has been associated with septal heart defects; has been associated with a birth defect that affects the brain and skull (anencephaly), a birth defect that affect sutures on the head (craniosynostosis) and a birth defect that affects the abdominal organs (omphalocele)
Pregnancy Category C (see below for key)
Fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem)
Risks: Has been associated with PPHN when taken during the last half of pregnancy
Pregnancy Category C (see below for key)
Paroxetine (Paxil)
Risks: Has been associated with fetal heart defects when taken during the first three months of pregnancy; has been associated with PPHN when taken during the last half of pregnancy; has been associated with anencephaly, craniosynostosis and omphalocele
Pregnancy Category D (see below for key)
Sertraline (Zoloft)
Risks: Has been associated with PPHN when taken during the last half of pregnancy; has been associated with septal heart defects; has been associated with omphalocele
Pregnancy Category C (see below for key)
Amitriptyline
Risks: Suggested risk of limb malformation in early studies, but not confirmed by newer studies
Pregnancy Category C (see below for key)
Nortriptyline (Pamelor)
Risks: Suggested risk of limb malformation in early studies, but not confirmed by newer studies
Pregnancy Category D (see below for key)
Phenelzine (Nardil)
Risks: May cause a severe increase in blood pressure that triggers a stroke
Pregnancy Category C (see below for key)
Tranylcypromine (Parnate)
Risks: May cause a severe increase in blood pressure that triggers a stroke
Pregnancy Category C (see below for key)
Bupropion (Wellbutrin)
Risks: No established risks during pregnancy
Pregnancy Category C (see below for key)
Key:
Category C:
Use with caution if benefits outweigh risks. Animal studies show risk and human studies not available or neither animal studies nor human studies done.
Category D:
Use in LIFE-THREATENING emergencies when no safer drug available. Positive evidence of human fetal risk.
The risks associated with these drugs is outrageous considering studies have shown they are ineffective for most people. You should read category C very carefully. It says to use with caution is the benefits outweigh the risks. But the next line says that the studies that were conducted on animals showed that there was risk OR that animal or human studies have not been conducted. In plain English that means one of the following:
1. The drug was studied in animals and was shown to have some serious risk or…
2. It was never studied in animals or humans.
Do you really want to risk your baby’s health on something that may or may not have been tested and if it was tested (on animals) it was shown to be dangerous? You must understand that no matter how you look at it, these drugs have never actually been tested on humans while they were pregnant (thankfully!). This makes them extremely unsafe, particularly when there is a safe alternative out there like acupuncture.
The pharmaceutical industry would love to tell you that their drugs are safe and can be taken by just about anyone. What they fail to tell you is, in the case of antidepressants, is that they are ineffective wastes of money and the only affect they have is harmful.
If you happen to be pregnant and depressed, which is quite common, I would suggest a trial of acupuncture before you try any sort of medication. They are no better than placebo therefor making the risks always outweigh the benefits.
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