In response to the study, published in Wednesday's New England Journal of Medicine, a spokesperson for Abbott, which makes valproate, said the drug may be the only effective medication for some women. Valproate exposure to the unborn child is associated with a lower IQ, which is not explained by any of the other factors [influencing IQ], such as mother's IQ, mother's age, or epilepsy type," says Kimford J.

Epilepsy Drugs in Pregnancy and IQ. The average IQ of children born to women who took valproate was 92 -- 8 below the 100 that is considered average -- and the scores of those exposed to other epilepsy drugs ranged from 98 to 101, he tells. Have some form of epilepsy, according to the Epilepsy Foundation of America, and experience. About 3 million people in the U.S.

Meador, MD, the study's lead author and professor of neurology at Hyatt University in Atlanta. Study Details Meador and his colleagues enrolled pregnant women with epilepsy who received care at 25 epilepsy centers in the U.S. The implications go beyond the use of the drugs in women of childbearing age who have epilepsy, Meador tells , because the drug is also commonly prescribed for migraine headaches and bipolar disorder.

And the United Kingdom from late 1999 to dirk 2004.