Teratogens Research Paper

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Teratogens can be defined as “any environmental agent that causes damage during the prenatal period” (Burk). These agents are widespread in our modern society and include a wide variety of sources including drugs (including prescription, nonprescription, and street drugs), tobacco, alcohol, radiation, environmental pollution, and infectious diseases. The effects and factors of these substances varies considerably and is influenced by a number of different factors including the dose, amount of time exposed to agent, the action of individual genetics of the mother and the developing baby, the presence of more than one teratogen at once, and age of the developing baby at time of exposure.
One of the best known teratogenic drugs is thalidomide, …show more content…
Many people, however do not realize the breadth of prescription and nonprescription drugs that are widely used even today. This lead the FDA to establish a ranking system of teratogenic drugs in 1983 ranking drugs from A (least risk) to X (greatest risk) (Porth). One of the most teratogenic drugs available today is the vitamin a derivative acne drug Accutane (isotretinoin), a drug which has been prescribed to over twelve million people worldwide. While this drug was labeled as teratogenic upon release, by 1988 it still resulted in up to 1,300 babies with birth defects including “external ear malformations, cleft palates, undersized jaws (micrognathia), a variety of heart defects, buildups of fluids inside the skulls that leads to brain swelling (hydrocephalus), small heads and brains (microcephaly), and mental retardation (Tantibanchachai).” Vitamin A and its derivatives are so teratogenic that even taking …show more content…
women smoke while pregnant and another one-third to one-half are passive smokers via their partner's smoking habits. Smoking damages the developing baby in a variety of ways, from causing blood vessels to constrict due to nicotine (cutting off nutrion that can cause poor growth) to increasing carbon monoxide levels (which can damage brain development). This can lead to problems with later in life by causing shorter attention spans, aggressive behavior, and lowered mental test scores to name just a few of the effects of smoking ( or being exposed to smoke) while pregnant
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