Essays on Birth Defects

Introduction

Zika virus also termed as ZIKV is a known to have gained worldwide attention, especially in the USA, South East Asia, and Australia. The Zika belongs to the Flaviviridae family which comes under the genus Flavivirus (Wikan & Smith. 2016). The Zika virus is spread though day time mosquitoes belonging to the Aedes family. Some of the most common mosquitoes to contain and spread Zika include A. aegypti and A. albopictus. The name of Zika originated in 1947 where it was first isolated from the Zika forest in Uganda. Based on evidence, the Zika virus was associated with varying viral ...

Abstract

The uses of radiation revolutionized medicine when experimentation on its potential applications begun. X-Ray technology, discovered by Wilhem Roentgen, is currently used as a common tool for diagnostics; Henri Becquerel, Marie Curie and Pierre Curie dedicated themselves to further investigations in the field, discovering additional radioactive materials (polonium and radium); radiation therapy is a popular treatment for cancer. This paper analyzes the historical background behind these two applications of radiation in the medical field. Moreover, the different types of radiotherapy are described (external-beam radiation therapy, internal radiation therapy). The concept of radiation homeostasis, which is the notion that low-dose ...

Medications pass from the mother to the fetus primarily through the placenta in the same way as the nutrients the fetus needs for growth and development. Substances which a woman takes when she is pregnant can affect the fetus in several ways: act directly on the fetus, cause damage and abnormal development or lead to the death, change the function of the placenta, usually due to narrowing the blood vessels, violate the exchange of oxygen and nutrients, or just cause harm to the fetus due to the decrease of blood supply. Teratogens are all those substances that have a ...

UniversityPrenatal Development and Mental Disorders

Environmental factors including socioeconomic status, trauma and parenting practices play a crucial role in early childhood development. Even though they are important, the prenatal environment has become regarded as one of most crucial periods that can be influenced by these environmental factors. This is because during the prenatal period, environmental factors can significantly affect the development of the child, which will later have a significant impact on behavioral development later in life, implying a significant link between prenatal environment and a child’s mental health, which can specifically be impacted by various teratogens, or “any environmental agent that causes ...

Abstract

Environmental pollution is among the hotly debated topics in the field of environmental studies. Contamination of this kind ranges from that of water, soil, and air. Industrialization and large organizations have been reported to be the primary sources of pollution across the world. Chevron, a leading multinational energy corporation, has in the recent past been accused and charged for heavy soil and water contamination through oil spills. Such environmental pollution has substantial consequences on the human health, safety, and well being. Van Duzer et al. (2015) assert that one of the most affected nations through the company’s activities ...

Research has proven without a shadow of doubt that the degree of exposure to chemicals that are toxic in hospital settings directly correlates to the risk of getting asthma, cancer, miscarriages and even birth defects. Some of the birth defects have been known to include developmental issues both physically and neurologically. The cumulative risks that women working in health institutions are exposed to such as these varying toxic materials have caused many adverse issues with regard to child bearing. Some of the most common sources of the chemicals include sanitizers, bleach, and other cleaning substances used for sanitation, latex, ...

For over the years, there is a relative increase in cases of children with birth defects. Recent statistics with regards to the American babies suffering from birth defects reveals that for every 4 and a half minutes, there is a new case of baby born with a birth defect, which can also be summarized as 120,000 incidents of child birth defects every year, and it is expected that the number of child victims will rise for the succeeding years (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). Birth defects on newborn babies may affect almost any part of their body ...

Fetal alcohol syndrome is a condition whereby a child is born with a range of physical and mental deformities as a result of alcohol consumption by the mother during pregnancy. Such deformities are permanent, and the affected children will have to live with them for the rest of their lives. Over the last few decades, the number of infants born with this disease has been steadily rising. Of late this situation has captured the attention of medical practitioners worldwide as the rates are now alarming. For this reason, the medical community is more aware of the conditions and is ...

Lis Rodriguez

Lab 1 ASA College Abstract Patau’s syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that involves trisomy 13. The condition is characterised by either an extra copy of the autosomal chromosome number 13 or a translocation to chromosome 13 from another chromosome. There are severe symptoms observed in the unborn and newborn children having this defect. Polydactyly, cleft lips, physical retardation, mental retardation, heart defects are few of the many symptoms. The disease can be diagnosed during gestation via screening methods followed by several analytical procedures like FISH, karyotyping and microarray on samples of blood and serum from the pregnant ...

Folate is a water-soluble vitamin of B-group and is essential for good health, especially the women of childbearing age as it improves the birth outcomes and also decreases the birth defects in the newborn ("Folate For Women Of Childbearing Age | Dietitians Association Of Australia"). Getting a sufficient amount of this vitamin prevents folate deficiency anaemia. It also helps in preventing certain severe birth defects as well. Some people confuse folate with folic acid, but there is a difference. Folate is the natural form of folic acid and is available in food, whereas, folic acid is the man-made form that ...