Your Health: Pregnant women and anti-epilepsy drug

Pregnancy warningPregnant women should be warned about using a certain anti-epilepsy drug during pregnancy.Valproic acid, used to fight epilepsy, has been associated with six specific congenital malformations when used in the first trimester.Research in the New England Journal of Medicine used a database of 4 million childbirths in Europe to find a link between the drug and spina bifida, atrial septal defect, cleft palate, hypospadias, polydactyly, and craniopsynostosis.The American Academy of Neurology recommends pregnant women avoid using valproic acid if possible.WikicancerWhen it comes to cancer, Wikipedia may have the opposite effect of its public perception.A study comparing Wikipedia to the National Cancer Institute's Physician Data Query found that, while Wikipedia was mostly accurate, it was harder to understand.The study by the Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia found that less than 2 percent of the material in Wikipedia entries differed substantially from that in textbooks, but the Wikipedia entries were much harder to read.That may be because Wikipedia uses a college-level vocabulary, while the cancer institute's patient information section is written at a ninth-grade level.MMRV seizuresResearchers found a higher risk of febrile seizures with the combined Measles-Mumps-Rubella-Varicella vaccine (MMRV) compared to when MMR and varicella vaccines were given separately.Febrile seizures are caused by a sudden fever, and are generally harmless. According to a study in the journal Pediatrics, vaccination with MMRV resulted in one additional febrile seizure for every 2,300 doses given in the 7 to 10 days following vaccination.Researchers looked at Vaccine Safety Datalink information on thousands of vaccinations from 2000 to 2008. The children were 12 to 23 months old.