Drugs_And_Birth_Defects

Drugs And Birth Defects Drugs and Birth Defects Birth Defects are abnormalities which are present at birth; they effect the structure or function of the body. Everybody is born with some kind of imperfection. Most are relatively mild, like a birth mark. However, some babies are born with more serious birth defects. Not all birth defects are apparent at birth, particularly the ones that can cause learning disabilities, certain health problems the child might face as he/she gets older, etc. Many different things can cause birth defects. A large portion of birth defects are drug related. These are environmental causes of birth defects and range from cocaine, to cigarettes, to alcohol, and even to prescription and over the counter drugs. In this paper, only a few of these causes, along with their effects, will be addressed. FAS (fetal alcohol syndrome) is one of the leading causes of retardation in babies. Alcohol is a teterogen, which is a substance that is toxic to the baby’s developing brain. A baby’s brain develops throughout the entire pregnancy, so the baby’s brain is always vulnerable to damage from alcohol exposure (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Community Recourse Center, http://www.come-over.to/FAS/FASbrain.htm) The damage alcohol can cause to an unborn baby’s brain can cause long-term effects that might birth, drugs, alcohol, babies, cause, defects, brain, cocaine, baby, affects, tobacco, pregnant, heroin, effects, causes, heart, fas, during, die, damage, child, born, baby’s, after, very, unborn, syndrome, skills, problems, pregnancy, poor, illegal, fetus, drinking, day, trimester