Alcohol Consumption Among Pregnant and Childbearing-Aged Women -- United States CDC, MMWR 46(16);346-350 04/25/1997 … This report analyzes and compares data from the 1995 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and previously reported 1991 BRFSS data for women aged 18-44 years (3), and presents the prevalence of alcohol consumption among pregnant women … A total of 33,585 women aged 18-44 years were interviewed … 4.7% of women aged 18-44 years reported being pregnant at the time of the interview. Of these, 16.3% reported any drinking during the preceding month, compared with 12.4% in 1991 … The rate of frequent drinking among pregnant women was approximately four times higher in 1995 than in 1991 (3.5% in 1995 and 0.8% in 1991, p less than 0.01) … Among all child bearing-aged women in 1995, 50.6% reported any drinking, and 12.6% reported frequent drinking … Category: Birth Defects BEFORE Birth
Smoking in Pregnancy March of Dimes, April 2008 If all pregnant women in the U.S. stopped smoking, there would be an estimated 10% reduction in infant deaths, according to the U.S. Public Health Service ... A recent Danish study reported that women who smoke were about 30% less likely to conceive ... Women who smoke early in pregnancy double their risk of having an ectopic pregnancy ... Smokers are up to 80% more likely to suffer a miscarriage than their non-smoking counterparts ... Smoking nearly doubles a woman's risk of having a low weight baby ... Who weigh less than 5 1/2 pounds at birth ... Smoking during pregnancy may contribute to birth defects ... Increased risk of developing cleft lip and/or cleft palate ... Category: Birth Defects BEFORE Birth
If you Smoke While You Are Pregnant March for Dimes, February 2009 Smoking harms your baby. When you smoke, your baby gets less oxygen. Lack of oxygen can cause your baby to grow more slowly and gain less weight in the womb. Category: Birth Defects BEFORE Birth
Fetal Therapy-Ethical Considerations PEDIATRICS Vol. 103 No. 5 May 1999, pp. 1061-1063 American Academy of Pediatrics ... Committee on Bioethics ... Decisions by pregnant women concerning fetal diagnostic and therapeutic interventions clearly involve considerations as to what is best for the fetus. These decisions also involve the woman's interest in her own health and freedom from unwanted invasion of her body because all diagnostic and therapeutic interventions on behalf of a fetus necessarily affect the pregnant woman and require her direct participation. Thus, fetal therapy poses a potential conflict between the pregnant woman's own best interests, and her (and others') perception of the best interests of her fetus. Category: Birth Defects BEFORE Birth
Pre-Pregnancy Planning UCLA Healthcare, October 22, 2008 Your journey through pregnancy is perhaps the biggest physical change your body will ever undergo. Ideally, you should see a doctor before you get pregnant for recommendations on how to have a healthy pregnancy. This section covers nutrition, diet, and lifestyle changes you should consider at this time. ... Category: Birth Defects BEFORE Birth
Think Ahead March of Dimes Foundation, 2010 Birth Defects Information ... March of Dimes Saving babies, together ... Category: Birth Defects BEFORE Birth
Preconception Health Care Stephanie C. Brundage, M.D., M.P.H., Greenville Hospital System, Greenville, South Carolina, June 15, 2002 preconception health care improves pregnancy outcomes ... before conception, folic acid supplements can prevent neural tube defects. Targeted genetic screening and counseling should be offered on the basis of age ... Before conception, women should be screened ... Environmental toxins such as cigarette smoke, alcohol, and street drugs, and chemicals such as solvents and pesticides should be avoided ... Category: Birth Defects BEFORE Birth
Preconception Health Care March of Dimes, July 2008 Preconception health care is care a woman of childbearing age receives before pregnancy or between pregnancies. ... All women of childbearing age can take steps before they get pregnant to improve their chances of having a healthy, full-term baby. More and more babies are born prematurely (before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy), which increases the risk for serious health problems ... A preconception checkup can help assure that a woman is as healthy as possible before she conceives ... Category: Birth Defects BEFORE Birth
Recommendations to Improve Preconception Health and Health Care --- United States CDC, April 21, 2006 / 55(RR06);1-23 ... provides recommendations to improve both preconception health and care ... to improve the health of women and couples, before conception of a first or subsequent pregnancy ... CDC has developed these recommendations based on a review of published research ... The 10 recommendations ... are aimed at achieving four goals to 1) improve the knowledge and attitudes and behaviors of men and women related to preconception health; 2) assure that all women of childbearing age in the United States receive preconception care services (i.e., evidence-based risk screening, health promotion, and interventions) that will enable them to enter pregnancy in optimal health; 3) reduce risks indicated by a previous adverse pregnancy outcome through interventions during the interconception period, which can prevent or minimize health problems for a mother and her future children; and 4) reduce the disparities in adverse pregnancy outcomes. ... Category: Birth Defects BEFORE Birth
Specific Skeletal Dysplasias in Utero: Sonographic Diagnosis’ Radiology 1986; 159:237-242 [ Illustrated Professionals Mainly ] A retrospective study was performed
of 13 short-limbed fetuses ... with ultrasound
... thanatophoric dwarfism, achondrogenesis, osteogenesis imperfecta, and campomelic
dwarfism. Death occurred in utero
or within 2 weeks after delivery in
all cases. ... The probable
diagnosis of lethal short-limbed
dwarfism was made antenatally using
US in eleven of the fetuses. Spinal
appearance, thoracic shape, and
associated hydrops and polyhydramnios
were most helpful in determining
the specific type of dysplasia
present. Lethal short-limbed
skeletal dysplasia may be diagnosed
confidently in utero using US examination; ... Category: Campomelic Dysplasia
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, August 24, 2009 [ Families ] FASDs are 100% preventable if a woman does not drink alcohol during pregnancy. There is no known safe amount of alcohol to drink while pregnant. There is also no safe time during pregnancy to drink and no safe kind of alcohol ... Category: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
CONTROVERSIES IN CONGENITAL CLUBFOOT : LITERATURE REVIEW Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences, Vol. 9, No. 1, January 2002 (34-40) [ Professionals Mainly ] Despite common occurrence, congenital talipes equinovarus (clubfoot) is still a
subject of controversy. It poses a significant problem with its unpredictable
outcome, especially when the presentation for treatment is late ... Category: Clubfoot
Klinefelter syndrome and other sex chromosomal aneuploidies Jeannie Visootsak and John M Graham Jr, Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases, October 24, 2006 [ Professionals Mainly ] The term Klinefelter syndrome (KS) describes a group of chromosomal disorder in which there is at least one extra X chromosome to a normal male karyotype, 46,XY. XXY ... most common disorder of sex chromosomes in humans ... one in 500 males ... 46,XX males also exist and it is caused by translocation of Y material including sex determining region (SRY) to the X chromosome during paternal meiosis ... 47,XXY males may present with a variety of subtle clinical signs that are age-related ... may have ... hypospadias, small phallus or cryptorchidism, developmental delay ... language delay, learning disabilities, or behavioral problems ... delayed or incomplete pubertal development with eunuchoid body habitus, gynecomastia, and small testes. Adults are often evaluated for infertility or breast malignancy ... replacement therapy should begin at puberty, around age 12 years ... Affected individuals have longer arms and legs ... Testicular volume is typically less than 10 ml in postpubertal 47,XXY individuals ... most patients with Klinefelter syndrome are infertile ... few patients with reports of pregnancy without assisted medical technology ... 69% (29 of 42 men) had adequate sperm found using intracytoplasmic sperm injection ... wide range of intelligence quotient (IQ) has been noted ... breast carcinoma in 47,XXY is relatively increased ... Associated endocrine complications include diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism, and hypoparathyrodism ... lupus erythematosus, Sjogren syndrome, and rheumatoid arthritis, are more common ... with frequencies similar to those found in 46,XX females ... Development of varicose veins and leg ulcers may result from venous stasis ... recurrence risk is not increased above that of the general population ... Category: Klinefelter Syndrome
LYMPHEDEMA, HEREDITARY, IA Victor A. McKusick, OMIM, Johns Hopkins University, July 1, 2009 [ Professionals Mainly ] Alternative titles; symbols
NONNE-MILROY LYMPHEDEMA
MILROY DISEASE
LYMPHEDEMA, EARLY-ONSET
PRIMARY CONGENITAL LYMPHEDEMA; PCL
Gene map locus 5q35.3
Milroy (1892) ... observed congenital chylous ascites in an affected infant ... swelling of the scrotum beginning at the age of 20 years ... bilateral pleural effusion in which ... autosomal dominant ... proband had severe elephantiasis ... Category: Lymphedema