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Show Malformed arms and legs of a patient at a March of Dunes Birth Defects Center resemble those of thalidomide victims. appointed chairman of the drive in the Mapleton area; Mrs. Marlin Boyer, Kolob Stake area, and Mrs. Reed Holdaway in the Springville Stake. They will supervise efforts of mothers in each ward who will call on all homes during the week. In its prenatal care literature, The National Foundation-March of Dimes, which entered the field of birth defects after the conquest of polio, warns all women of child-bearing child-bearing age against self-medication, home remedies, and "borrowing" "borrow-ing" pills from friends and relatives. rela-tives. Even prescription drugs normally normal-ly taken without ill effect should be re-evaluated by a physician when pregnancy is a possibility. No woman, of course, should refuse re-fuse to take medicine which her doctor considers essential to her over-all health. Indeed, failure to take needed medication may be as dangerous to a developing fetus as random self-medication. If an expectant mother is under the care of more than one specialist, spec-ialist, each doctor should know what has been prescribed by the other since some chemicals of relatively rel-atively low risk by themselves may be hazardous in combination with ious of the commonplace medica- ; tions found in the family medicine chest. Even simple remedies such as aspirin are under investigation. So I are vitamins in excesssive doses, nose drops and many other over-the-counter medicines. I Some experts fear that over- 1 emphasis on the dramatically dan- ', gerous drugs overshadows a far ; more important fact until scien- ; tists understand more clearly how ; chemicals affect the child in the ; womb, all drugs are suspect. One reason for increased suspicion suspic-ion of all drugs is the relatively recent medical awareness that the 1 womb is not a perfectly safe ha- ; ven. Physicians once thought it to ; be completely protected by the ; placenta, preventing harmful ag- ; ents from being passed by the mother to the unborn child. Today, ! doctors who used to speak confi- ; dently of the "placental barrier" ; as an impervious, natural protec- tive agent, know that the theory and the barrier are full of holes. Many people are surprised that such things as vitamins are con-sidered con-sidered drugs. But vitamins are . chemicals. Too much vitamin K, I for example, sometimes causes ; jaundice which can damage an un- ; born child's central nervous sys-tern. sys-tern. Too much vitamin D during !; pregnancy can cause excess cal- I cium in the baby, a condition ;l which may be related to defects of the heart and bones as well as to mental retardation. Using1 nose drops is not gener- ; ally recognized as "taking drugs." !; Yet nose drops which are power- ! ful enough to contract the blood j vessels of the nose may also be ; strong enough to contract the ; blood vessels of the placenta and j placental bed, reducing the oxygen J and nutrition the fetus receives. ! "Before we take or freely prescribe pre-scribe any chemical, new or old, it behooves all of us doctors, laymen,1 lay-men,1 and, especially potential parents par-ents to consider first what the ' ultimate cost might be to future !; generations," Dr. Virginia Apgar, ; vice-president for medical affairs of The National Foundation-March ; of Dimes, points out. j Mothers warned on drug dangers The annual Mothers' March of Dimes Campaign will begin in the Springville-Mapleton area Monday, January 20 and will continue until January 25, according to Mrs. Jorgen Boyer, general chairman. Funds collected will be used to combat birth defects, both in medical med-ical research and care center maintenance. main-tenance. Mrs. Lee Bartholomew has been other drugs. Taking exactly the prescribed amount is also important import-ant twice what the doctor orders does not do twice as much good. Of recent concern to scientists are drugs which may contribute to birth defects. LSD and thalidomide thali-domide come to mind immediately when one thinks of drugs which may cause troubles, but more and more doctors are equally suspic- |