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Show Household Drugs May Cause Defects, March of Dimes Physician Warns V-W '; ;v-: ' "" pA- -. --- ?.?: -f - '- e . m " '- ' ,A ' 'V - LSD and thalidomide come to mind immediately when we think of drugs which may cause birth defects.' de-fects.' But more and more scientists are equally suspicious sus-picious of the commonplace medications found in the family medicine chest. Even simple remedies such as aspirin are under investigation. investiga-tion. So are vitamins in excessive exces-sive doses, nose drops and many other over-the-counter medicines. Some experts fear that overemphasis over-emphasis on the dramatically dangerous drugs overshadows a far more important fact until scientists understand more clearly how chemicals affect the child in the womb, ail drugs are suspect. A "terminology gap" in the popular definition of drugs has clouded this important point, according to Dr. Virginia Ap-gar, Ap-gar, vice president for medical affairs of The National Foundation-March of Dimes. "The word 'drugs' has come to mean only the addicting narcotics and barbiturates, or the mind-expanding marijuana, marijua-na, LSD and 'speed.' But the truth is that drugs include the whole range of chemicals human hu-man beings may take in the form of pills, powders, capsules, cap-sules, injections, inhalents or by absorption through the skin," Dr. Apgar says. One reason for increased suspicion of all drugs is the relatively recent medical awareness that the womb is not a perfectly safe haven. Physicians once thought it to be completely protected by the placenta, preventing harmful agents from being passed by the mother to the unborn child. Today, doctors who used to speak confidently of the "placental barrier" as an impervious, im-pervious, natural protective agent, know that the theory and the barrier are full of holes. In its prenatal care literature, litera-ture, The National Foundation-March of Dimes, which entered the field of birth defects de-fects after the conquest of polio, warns all women of childbearing age against self-inedication. self-inedication. home remedies, and "borrowing" pills from friends and relatives. Even prescription : drugs , normally taken without ill ef- I MAIFORMEDARMS AND LEGS of a patient at a March of Dimes Birth Defects Center, resemble those of thalidomide victims. Scientists Scien-tists suspect that other drugs found in the average medicine cabinet may cause other birth defects. feet should be re-evaluated by a physician when pregnancy is a possibility. No woman, of course, should refuse to take medicine which her doctor considers essential to her overall over-all health. Indeed, failure to take needed medication may be as dangerous to a developing develop-ing fetus as random self -medication. If an expectant mother is under the care of more than one specialist, each doctor should know what has been prescribed by the other since some chemicals, of relatively low risk by themselves may be hazardous in combination with other drugs. Taking exactly the prescribed amount is also important twice what the doctor orders does not do twice as much good. Many people are surprised that such things as vitamins are considered drugs. But vitamins are chemicals. . Too much vitamin . for example, sometimes causes jaundice which can damage an unborn child's central nervous system. Too much vitamin D during pregnancy can cause excess calcium in the baby, a condition con-dition which may be related to defects of the heart and bones as well as to mental retardation. re-tardation. Using nose drops is not generally gen-erally recognized as "taking drugs." Yet nose drops which are powerful enough to contract the blood vessels of the nose may also be strong enough to contract the blood vessels of the placenta and placental bed, reducing the oxygen and nutrition the fetus receives. Many drugs, whether they have been available for a long time or are new developments, have great merit as aids to human health and comfort, Dr. Apgar admits. "But before we take or freely prescribe any chemical, new or old, it behooves all of us doctors, laymen and, especially es-pecially potential parents to consider first what the ultimate ulti-mate cost migh. be to future generations." |