美国国家公共电台 NPR Xanax Or Zoloft For Moms-To-Be: A New Study Assesses Safety

 

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Lots of people take prescription¹ medications such as Xanax or Zoloft for anxiety and depression, but is it OK to take them while pregnant? NPR's Allison Aubrey reports on new findings that offer some answers.

ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE²: Earlier this year, when Emily Chodos was about 25 weeks into her pregnancy³, she woke up one night feeling horrible.

EMILY CHODOS: My hands were shaking and tremoring. My heart would be racing⁴. I'd be gasping⁵ for air and pacing the house.

AUBREY: This went on for several days.

CHODOS: I'd never felt so out of control of my body.

AUBREY: It got to the point where she couldn't fall asleep, so she reached out to her obstetrician's office.

CHODOS: I ended up paging her at about 4 a.m. one night when I was so panicked, and one of the midwives immediately said, it sounds like you're having a panic attack.

AUBREY: The midwife advised her to take an anti-anxiety medication and come in the next day for a consultation⁶.

CHODOS: It was Xanax, and I was afraid to take it, as a pregnant woman.

AUBREY: Chodos, who is trained as a nurse, knew there were some concerns about this class of medication. Scientists haven't ruled out the risk of adverse⁷ effects for pregnant women.

CHODOS: I actually felt very trapped - that there was probably no safe medication, and I would just have to suffer and feel awful.

AUBREY: But on her doctor's suggestion, she went to see a psychiatrist⁸ - Kimberly Yonkers at Yale University. Yonkers has been studying the effects of these medications in pregnant women - particularly, women with anxiety and panic disorders⁹. And she understands why women are torn about the drugs.

KIMBERLY YONKERS: It's kind of a tricky¹⁰ balance, right? People have this illness that they didn't ask for and they don't want, and they're really suffering.

AUBREY: The medications can help, but women worry about the potential risks to their baby's health. To understand the risks better, Yonkers and her collaborators studied about 2,600 women during pregnancy and after childbirth. For women taking these drugs, Yonkers did find some risks - for instance, an increase in C-section deliveries. Their babies were also a little more likely to need oxygen or some other ventilatory support after birth.

YONKERS: And we also found that the duration of pregnancy was shortened by, on average, 3.6 days - so quite modest.

AUBREY: Women on antidepressants also had their pregnancies¹¹ shortened but by less than two days. And their babies were a little more likely to require oxygen or other respiratory support just after birth. So while these medications are not risk-free, Yonkers says...

YONKERS: It should be reassuring¹² to most people that we are not seeing a huge magnitude of an effect here.

AUBREY: The study, which is published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry¹³, also found that the anxiety disorders themselves don't pose risks to babies' health. But Yonkers says the results suggest that women who need treatment for these disorders don't have to stop taking these medications during pregnancy.

David Garry is a maternal¹⁴ fetal medicine specialist at Stony¹⁵ Brook¹⁶ University. He agrees, and he says every woman should talk to her doctor and come up with a treatment plan.

DAVID GARRY: I think you have to look at what medication it is. Then decide, can she be on a lower dose, can she come off the medication, or should she remain right where she is?

AUBREY: Garry says that's the best approach. Allison Aubrey, NPR News.

1 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

4 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

5 gasping   

adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词

参考例句：

• He was gasping for breath. 他在喘气。
• "Did you need a drink?""Yes, I'm gasping!” “你要喝点什么吗？”“我巴不得能喝点！”

6 consultation   

n.咨询；商量；商议；会议

参考例句：

• The company has promised wide consultation on its expansion plans.该公司允诺就其扩展计划广泛征求意见。
• The scheme was developed in close consultation with the local community.该计划是在同当地社区密切磋商中逐渐形成的。

7 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。

8 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。

9 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

11 pregnancies   

怀孕，妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。

12 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

13 psychiatry   

n.精神病学，精神病疗法

参考例句：

• The study appeared in the Amercian science Journal of Psychiatry.这个研究发表在美国精神病学的杂志上。
• A physician is someone who specializes in psychiatry.精神病专家是专门从事精神病治疗的人。

14 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

15 stony   

adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的

参考例句：

• The ground is too dry and stony.这块地太干，而且布满了石头。
• He listened to her story with a stony expression.他带着冷漠的表情听她讲经历。

16 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。