Teratogens May Cause Birth Defects

784 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: effects of teratogens on human development

A teratogen is a drug or other substance capable of interfering with the development of an embryo fetus or breastfeeding baby that may lead to birth defects, developmental malformations, or even death. It is usually something in the environment that the mother may be exposed to during her pregnancy. It could be prescription/nonprescription medications, illegal drugs, tobacco, alcohol use, vaccines, or environmental exposures. It could also be a disease present in the mother, which could increase the chance for the baby to be born with a birth defect. About 75% of birth defects are caused by teratogens.
Every woman has a 3-5% risk of having a baby born with a birth defect. However; some teratogens could increase that risk all depending when in the pregnancy a woman had the exposure, how much of the exposure, and the route of the exposure. Timing is a huge factor that can influence the effect of teratogens. It all depends on the timing, and what period in the pregnancy the child is exposed. Teratogens can cause damage during specific days or weeks in early pregnancy, and other teratogens are harmful at any time during the pregnancy. For example, the brain and nervous system can be harmed throughout the pregnancy. Another factor to the effect of a teratogen is its exposure. How the baby is affected by the teratogens all depends on the dosage, and how frequent the teratogen was exposed. There are two effects, the threshold effect and the interaction effect. The threshold effect is relatively harmless in small doses but may become harmful when the exposure reaches a certain level. The interaction effect is a particular teratogen’s potential for causing harm, which increases when it is combined with another teratogen or another risk ...

... middle of paper ...

...arch 25, 2014, from http://www.webmd.com/baby/smoking-during-pregnancy
Pregnancy and Teratogens. (n.d.). Pregnancy and Teratogens. Retrieved March 25, 2014, from http://www.healthline.com/health/pregnancy/teratogens Pregnant women: Secondhand smoke can harm your baby. (n.d). The Chart RSS. Retrieved March 28, 2014, from http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/07/pregnant-women-secondhand-smoke-can-harm-your-unborn-baby/ Teratogens. (n.d.). Teratogens. Retrieved March 25, 2014, from http://umich.edu/~psycours/350/jaeckelj/terats.h
Teratogens. (n.d.). Home. Retrieved March 25, 2014, from http://www.chw.org/medical-care/genetics-and-genomics-program/medical-genetics/teratogens/
Teratogens and their effects on unborn & nursing infants. (n.d.). Teratogens and their effects on unborn & nursing infants. Retrieved March 25, 2014, from http://www.metroplexbaby.com/ParentGuide

Show More
Related

  • Analysis of Peter Brimelow's Thank You for Smoking?

    1244 Words  | 3 Pages

    Works Cited:.. Action on Smoking and Health. 4 Oct. 2003 http://www.ash.org.uk/html/factsheets/html/fact02.html American Lung Association. “Smoking and Pregnancy.”

    Read More

  • The Effects on Caffeine During Pregnancy

    1136 Words  | 3 Pages

    The effects on caffeine during pregnancy were explained and detailed. I explained the causes and effects on caffeine and the major dangers that affect the offspring. Caffeine is the most dangerous cause of danger in pregnancy and their offspring. It can infect the metabolism, the fetal, and can cause miscarriages. The blood flow can easily be decreased by having to much caffeine and can in danger the baby.

    Read More

  • The Effects of Teratogens on an Unborn Embryo

    1035 Words  | 3 Pages

    Childbirth is nothing short of a miracle. The placenta—the organ connecting a developing fetus to the uterine wall and allowing for waste elimination, nutrient uptake and gas exchange via the mother's blood supply—filters most harmful substances that threaten an embryo, though some may still pass on to the fetus. These harmful substances, called “teratogens,” range from environmental chemicals to the transmission of maternal diseases, and can negatively impact the normal developmental cycle of a fetus. The title “teratogen,” however, refers to any substance or chemical exposure with the potential to cause birth defects in prenatal development. Exposure to teratogens can result in a broad spectrum of physiological and psychological issues in later life, including malformations of the body.

    Read More

  • Endocrine Pollulation Essay

    721 Words  | 2 Pages

    Chemical pollution into the environment can cause both genotypic and phenotypic changes in many organisms, including humans. More specifically, environmental pollutants like BPA can act as xenoestrogens (estrogen imitators), ultimately affecting hormonal activity and production in an organism. This alteration in activity and production can be termed as endocrine disruption. The endocrine system regulates a variety of processes responsible for growth and development, including gonadal formation and function, digestion, metabolism, sex differentiation, and embryonic development (reviewed by Flint et al., 2012). Chemicals that interfere with the function or structure of the endocrine system can be defined as endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2007).

    Read More

  • Environmental Influences On Prenatal Development

    534 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tobacco use during pregnancy is another environmental influence. The nicotine, carbon monoxide, and many other harmful chemicals mixed together in cigarettes are very harmful to the mother and especially the unborn child. This can cut off the baby’s oxygen supply, increase the risk of

    Read More

  • The Effects Of Radiation On A Fetus

    993 Words  | 2 Pages

    It seems that if fetuses are exposed to less than 100 mGy at any point in the pregnancy the outcome... ... middle of paper ... ...of IR exposures” (Soklov 15701). It is important for researchers to be able to study stem cells so that they can continue to find measures that can prevent cell death and malformations in mothers and fetuses. Many of the experts agree that the dose should be kept as low as possible with minimal exposure to the fetus of any age.

    Read More

  • Endocrine Disruptors

    1741 Words  | 4 Pages

    During recent years, numerous newspaper and magazine articles have suggested that humans may be at risk because small amounts of well known environmental contaminants, such as dioxin, PCBs and DDT, can affect hormone levels. Hormones are produced by the endocrine system as regulators of biological function in target organs. Because hormones play a critical role in early development, toxicological effects on the endocrine system often have an impact on the reproductive system. The term endocrine disruptor is used to describe chemicals that can mimic hormones and may either enhance or counteract their effects. It has been suggested that these hormone changes can, in turn, lead to a variety of health problems including cancer, decreased fertility, and abnormalities in newborns.

    Read More

  • The Term Effects Of Prenatal Development

    1120 Words  | 3 Pages

    What the mother exposes her baby to while she is pregnant influences the baby’s development of intelligence. An article about the long-term effects of prenatal development explains, “Nonetheless, environmental factors affect learning and behavior and influence children throughout their lives—even from before birth” (Lollar & Cordero, 2007). For example, a woman who drinks alcohol runs the risk of causing her baby to be mentally retarded. Psychologist Jacqueline Lerner wrote, “The evidence is clear that in pregnant women heavy drinking (defined as three or more drinks a day – a drink being one beer, one glass of wine, or one shot of liquor) or binge drinking (five or more drinks on one occasion) is teratogenic” (Lerner, 2000). A teratogen is anything that disturbs the normal development of the fetus in the

    Read More

  • The Effects of Prenatal Cocaine-Exposure On Cognitive Development

    1686 Words  | 4 Pages

    There are many factors that are integrated into the successful development of a child from Prenatal growth into toddlerhood. Teratogens (outside factors) have a great impact on the babies’ inutero development. Some outside factors like second-hand smoke, smog, or fumes from cleaning chemicals can cause negative effects on the child inside the womb. A few major affects from teratogens could result in low birth weight, head circumference, slow physical growth as well as an effect on mental, behavioral and motor skills (Berk, 2003). The environment around the mother provides many of these outside factors affecting the baby’s growth. But the main link to teratogens during the gestation period is most likely the mother. Daniel S. Messinger and the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that 2.8% of pregnant women admitted to using illicit drugs during their pregnancy (1996). Through illicit drug use, tobacco use and alcohol use, the mother disrupts her baby’s growth with possibly permanent damage.

    Read More

  • Tobacco: The Negative Health Impact Of Tobacco

    1457 Words  | 3 Pages

    Secondhand smoke is responsible for between 150,000 and 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections in infants and children under 18 months of age, resulting in between 7,500 and 15,000 hospitalizations each year. It also causes 430 sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) deaths in the U.S. annually.

    Read More

  • Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

    2071 Words  | 5 Pages

    “Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.” Alcohol as a Teratogen-Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (8 Dec. 2003): 5 April 2011. http://people.uwec.edu/pierceh/fas/fas...htm

    Read More

  • The Effects Of Smoking During Pregnancy

    1674 Words  | 4 Pages

    (Gilman, Breslau, Subramanian, Hitsman, & Koenen, 2008). Despite the warnings about the dangers of smoking while pregnant, some women still choose to smoke, which places themselves and their baby at risk for many health issues. Damage caused by smoking while pregnant During pregnancy, smoking can cause problems for a woman’s own health, including, ectopic pregnancy, vaginal bleeding, placental abruption, in which the placenta peels away, partially or almost completely, from the uterine wall before delivery; Placenta Previa, a low-lying placenta that covers part or all of the opening of the uterus (March of Dimes, 2011). Women that smoke expose their unborn baby to dangerous chemicals, like carbon monoxide, tar and nicotine.... ...

    Read More

  • The Negative Effects of Urbanization on People and their Environment

    1956 Words  | 4 Pages

    U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA). (2012, June 21). Toxic air pollutants. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/air/toxicair/newtoxics.html

    Read More

  • Teratogens and Their Effects on Fetus Development

    1998 Words  | 4 Pages

    Every woman when pregnant has a 3-5% chance of having a baby born with a birth defect, and these chances increase when the developing fetus/ embryos are exposed to teratogens, whether it’s intentional or unintentional (Bethesda (MD), 2006). Teratogens can cause severe birth defects, malformations, or terminate the pregnancy altogether (Jancárková, & Gregor, 2000). The placenta is known as an effective barrier from any detrimental pathogen that can potentially hurt the fetus. The timing of exposure of any teratogen is critical to the impact of prenatal development (Bethesda (MD), 2006). The most vulnerable time of the fetus for severe damage is during early pregnancy when all the major organ and central nervous system (CNS) are developing. Miscarriages have an important role in keeping a pregnancy from evolving when there is something serious going on with the developing fetus/embryo. Miscarriages are more common than we think and are the most familiar type of pregnancy loss (Bethesda (MD), 2006).

    Read More

  • Phytoremediation

    1720 Words  | 4 Pages

    In recent years it has become clear that some environmental chemicals can cause risks to the developing embryo and fetus. Evaluating the developmental toxicity of environmental chemicals is now a prominent public health concern. The suspected association between TCE and congenital cardiac malformations warrants special attention because TCE is a common drinking water contaminant that is detected in water supplies throughout the U.S. and the world. There is a lot of concern about the clean up of toxic pollutants from the environment.

    Read More

More about Teratogens May Cause Birth Defects

Open Document