Long term consequences of fetal deprivation
Article Abstract:
Many studies have demonstrated that the size and viability of fetuses are related to the health and nutritional state of the mother. However, physicians see many apparent exceptions to this, as where individual infants appear to have thrived in spite of the mother's poor diet, or to compensate for this during postnatal development. In particular, the experience of the Dutch, who underwent extreme food shortages in the winter of 1944 to 1945, appears to support the view that fetuses are well-protected from all but the worst of maternal diets. Thus, although infants whose second and third trimesters coincided with the Dutch famine had birth weights averaging about 300 grams less than usual, males who were examined at age 19 for military service appeared to be physically and mentally normal. However, new studies suggest that this view is complacent, and that damage may occur which is not apparent until adult life. For example, Dutch women who were exposed to the famine during their first half of intrauterine life are now themselves having babies of lower birthweight, producing more than the normal number of small-for-gestational age infants. Similarly, adult cardiovascular disease is being traced to early life conditions. These are limited findings, but are enough to provoke concern. These studies are ongoing, and more thorough studies will be needed before we can fully appreciate the effect of detrimental influences occurring in early pregnancy. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0306-5456
Year: 1990
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Diethylstilbestrol revisited: a review of the long-term health effects
Article Abstract:
Studies document serious long-term adverse effects in women who took diethylstilbestrol (DES) during pregnancy and in their daughters and sons. Women who took DES have about twice the risk of breast cancer compared with unexposed women. Women exposed to DES in the womb have a risk of between 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 10,000 between birth and age 34 for cervico-vaginal clear-cell adenoma, an extremely rare cancer. Abnormal cervical and vaginal cells are frequently observed, but the connection with cancer is unknown. One study found 3.6 times the risk of ovarian cancer. DES daughters often have developmental abnormalities of the reproductive tract, and they are more likely to be infertile and to have ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages, and preterm births. One study showed an increased lifetime risk for autoimmune disease. DES sons may have an increased risk of testicular cancer and urogenital abnormalities.
Publication Name: Annals of Internal Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4819
Year: 1995
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Long Term Effects of a Home Visit to Prevent Childhood Injury: Three Year Follow Up or a Randomized Trial
Article Abstract:
Five Canadian teaching hospitals tested the effectiveness of a safety education program for families of children under eight who had an injury at home such as burns, falls from a bicycle, poisoning, or choking. They concluded that a home visit by a research assistant who made suggestions on the presence/absence of safety features had a modest effect on reducing injuries to the children.
Publication Name: Injury Prevention
Subject: Health
ISSN: 1353-8047
Year: 2005
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