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PAGE REFERENCES
The evidence linking benzodiazepine (BDZ) exposure to damage to
the embryo, foetus and infant in the first few months after birth
is still growing. Major malformations such as cleft palate remain an
area of contention, but other adverse effects in the neonate are
well documented and recent evidence of long term
neurological damage continues to emerge. 30 - 40 % of all pregnant women will be given an antianxiety
drug ( usually a BDZ ) at some time during pregnancy(1) it is vital
that all women of childbearing potential are warned of any dangers
to their children from BDZ exposure. Presently they are not. Recent patient information
leaflets from the manufacturers warn: Neurodevelopmental effects. Again, flumazenil was found, when administered to pregnant rats
concommittantly with diazepam (2.5 mg/kg) to reverse the effects
of diazepam in the hypothalamus of the adult offspring.(2) (i).The enzyme Na,K - ATPase holds a key position in the biochemical
developement of the brain. Its activity is changed in mice after
exposure to diazepam [Weber and Schmahl,1983] and it was also
inhibited in vitro in human foetal brain tissue
[Das et Al.,1979].(3) The evidence is increasing that behavioural disorders may be linked
to prenatal BDZ exposure. (iii). Diazepam (Valium) is implicated in a wide variety of
regulatory disfunctions in the newborn and may exert long range
deleterious influences, as some forms of learning disabilities
or attention deficit disorders.(4) Evidence that prenatal exposure to drugs such as diazepam (Valium)
has profound effects in the mammalian brain on a
range of adaptive responses of a kind that are often
not expressed until adolescence(a stage when many
clinical behavioural disorders appear) was published in 1995(5) A prospective study in humans from Sweden concludes:
"infants born to mothers exposed to the long term regular use of BDZ
in therapeutic doses run the risk of an overall deviation
in neurodevelopment during their first 18 months of life,
seen most prominently as a delay in voluntary grasping.
This finding was not thought to be explained by disturbed social
interaction between mother and infant alone. A teratogenic
effect by BDZ on the developing brain is supported by the
presence of craniofacial anomalies found in several children.
Many studies show that infants with transient neurologic
deviations in the first year of life are a high risk group
for attention deficit disorder in early school years. A follow up of
our series is urgent and in progress for evaluating the long
term hazards of BDZ."(6) * NB: The owner of this site wishes to make clear that a significant proportion of
people who take benzodiazepines (both babies and adults) do not suffer the adverse
consequences featured here. The concern of Benzact is the significant proportion
of those who are adversely affected by benzodiazepines.
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