Babies of methadone mothers develop eye defects, say experts

This article comes from the UK but if this proves to be a legitimate concern, it may end up affecting those of us on MAT in the US.
On a personal note, I am ashamed to admit this but I have had one son born while I was abusing opiate pain meds. In addition, I had my second son while I was on methadone for MAT, so I have done it both ways.

When our first son (who I abused opiate pain meds while pregnant with) was 5 he was diagnosed with a vision problem similar to what they are talking about in this article. It was called Convergence Insufficiency and had to do with brain not sending the right signals to the eye muscles. He is fine now and had to do eye therapy for a year or so to correct the problem but it does make me wonder if there is in fact some truth to this article.

On the other hand, my son born while I was on methadone had no such problem or any eye problem at all so it is hard to say what is accuarate about this article.

Regardless, I wanted to share it with you guys because like I said, if they do find some merit to it, in the long run it could cause problems for pregnant females on methadone.

Babies of methadone mothers develop eye defects, say experts


published Date: 28 February 2010

By Claire Smith

BABIES born to mothers who take methadone during pregnancy have developed a range of visual problems, according to a report by medical experts in Glasgow.

The study discovered that the mothers of all 20 infants referred to a specialist clinic for vision defects had taken opiates during pregnancy.

The problems included blurred vision, nystagmus (rapid and involuntary eye movement from side to side), squints, short-sightedness and cerebral visual impairment – signs that the brain was not processing the signals from the eyes correctly.

The results of the study are likely to add to the controversy surrounding the prescription of the heroin substitute methadone to drug users.

The latest official statistics show that 572 babies were born to drug misusers in 2006-7, including 370 births to users of opiates such as methadone and heroin. The study, published in the Scottish Medical Journal, was carried out by doctors at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Yorkhill and Princess Royal Maternity. It is the first major investigation into how the use of opiates during pregnancy affects the development of vision in babies.

Researchers said there were "growing concerns" about the scale of the vision problems being picked up by eye examinations and about how long they would persist.

Neonatal consultant Helen Mactier said: "We were seeing a disproportionate number of babies who had visual difficulties whose mothers had a history of drug abuse."

Ruth Hamilton, a consultant clinical scientist and an expert in vision who is involved in the research project, said: "This is about the long-term outcomes for these children. It may be that these babies will go on to develop problems later in life, and it is very important that we discover if there is something we can do."

In the study, 19 babies had blurred vision, 14 nystagmus, six had squints, six were short-sighted and five had cerebral visual impairment.

A preliminary summary of the research has been presented to the Scottish Paediatric Society. It suggests routine eye examinations for children who were exposed to methadone in the womb, saying: "Children with a history of in-utero opiate exposure may benefit from a vision screening programme."

Mactier said:

"We deliver 150 babies a year to drug-using women and around 45 per cent of them are treated for withdrawal. These babies stay in hospital for a longer period, they are often sick and small. Their mothers are often heavy smokers, they may be from very socially deprived backgrounds, they have a high risk of depression.

"There is an increasing amount of evidence that babies born to drug-addicted mothers have a whole range of health problems."

She said that, because of the often chaotic lifestyle of drug users, it was hard to single out methadone or any other factor as the principal cause of eye problems.

"Between two-thirds and four-fifths of women on prescribed methadone are also using illicit opiates, valium or similar drugs."

A secondary study will try to pinpoint which factors were most likely to cause of eye problems in the babies of drug-abusing mothers.

There are now 22,000 addicts in Scotland on a methadone programme. A study by Glasgow University's Centre for Drug Misuse Research found that people on methadone programmes still take heroin. There are concerns the programme replaces one addictive drug with another, and that people are "parked" on methadone for years. There have also been cases of addicts' children gaining access to methadone.

Earlier this month, the £50 million policy was criticised when an addict's free supply was cut after almost 20 years.

A Scottish Government spokesman said official policy was to recommend methadone treatment for pregnant drug users on the grounds that prescribed drugs carried a lower risk than continuing to use illegal drugs.

He said: "Pregnant women who misuse drugs receive extra support and care suited to their personal needs.

I just have to wonder if these women were properly dosed, they seem to underdose patients and then they say, see MMT does not work as the Patients supplement their dose with other illicit drugs. The article is not clear about the women and their dosage and if they were using other drugs along with the MMT ??

beth









whether ar e y ah

My friends baby has eye problems, His eyes are cross eyed at times and they flick
back and forth rapidly .  She is on  methadone, yet her other two babies are
fine .  Yet, I've seen alot of other methadone kids and they don't have those problems.  Interesting topic though .
 

i was on opiates - percocet & lortab when i was pregnant w/ my daughter. the pain management doctor did not think i should stop taking them as w/drawl could cause a miscarriage. my daughter was born healthy & at 6 has no problems w/ vision or anything else. my son who is 14 was born healthy but has an eye problem. he has had to wear glasses since he was a year old. his left eye has problems. i did no drugs at all when pregnant w/ him. it is most likely an inherited problem b/c his dad had to have corrective surgery on his left eye for the same problem but more severe. i wonder if this article took into account genetics for the children who had eye problems?
cat