The Nature and Role of Teratogen and Its Impacts on Later Life - Coursework Example

The nature and role of teratogen and its impacts on later life Institution: Course: Tutor: Date: The nature and role of teratogen and its impacts on later life Introduction Every human being endeavors to give birth to a live child that has no sicknesses, abnormalities and other complications arising from the birth process or pregnancy. For this reason, it has always been emphasised that mothers should seek proper antenatal care in order to be effectively advised on how to carry their pregnancy until birth. Across the world, various incidents have continued to be witnessed about abnormalities and complications that come with pregnancy and the process of birth. Many incidences have been recorded in hospitals and in homes about children being born with deformations. While in some cultures, this is understood as a condition brought about by developmental complications in the embryo and fetus, other communities that do not have an effective understanding of this condition dismiss it as being curses and punishments by the spirits. It is important to understand that the pregnancy period is often very detrimental requiring proper care by mothers so that they can avoid such incidences and others that may arise from such issues. Currently, science and research has been effective in providing an understanding of the effects that certain practices and environments can have on the developing embryo and fetus. This paper examines the effects of various factors and environments on the developing embryo and fetus in the time of pregnancy in people. It provides an understanding of the requirements from parents, especially mothers so that they can carry their pregnancies in the most effective ways to give birth to live and normal offsprings. Teratology Teratology can be defined as study or research of various abnormalities in living organism’s physiological development. Alternatively, it is sometimes regarded as the study of the congenital abnormalities in human beings. However, in its actual practice, Teratology is very broad, comprising of the various non-birth developmental process ad stages like puberty. Teratology also focuses on the developmental processes that take place in the different non-human forms of life, which includes plants. Developmental toxicity, which is a related term to teratology comprises of all the various manifestations of the abnormal development by various toxic substances. In this case, they often comprise of growth retardation, congenital disorders as well as delayed development of the mind and other cognitive processes, often without any forms of structural malformations. It is important to realize that these structural abnormalities or anatomical factors are often present when a child is born but may be realized later in life after successful diagnosis. They are sometimes visible on the surface of one’s body or can be internal, affecting the various organs of the body. According to research, congenital malformations often account for about 20% for all the deaths happening during the perinatal period. About 3% of all the newborn babies often have some major malformations, with an additional 3% having those malformations detected later as they grow. It is important to realize that congenital malformations often affect people as they grow. Most of these people end up having abnormalities in their organs, with some dying before they reach their puberty. The following diagram illustrates some of the factors that often affect the embryo and the fetus during pregnancy. Source: Kalter, 2003 Teratogens Teratogens can be defined as agents that have the ability to disrupt the growth and development of a fetus or embryo in the course of pregnancy. These agents are very dangerous in that they often lead to birth defects in the child being born. In other cases, Teratogens may lead to outright termination of pregnancy, something that can be dangerous to the life of the mother. Teratogens often come in various classes, which cause various effects depending on their level of severity. These classes include different types of radiation, which are often from the industrial processes as well as some of the electronic tools and equipment and medication processes, different kinds of chemicals that the other may be exposes to, maternal infections as well as different kinds of drugs that may be induced by health practitioners and nurses (Sharkey, 2006). For this reason, expectant mothers are advised to ensure that they live and stay in safe environments that are free from these hazards and others that can affect the developing fetus and embryo. Teratology and radiations From the foregone discussion, it is evident that Teratogens can terminate a successful pregnancy or can lead to different congenital malformations by disturbing the growth and development of the growing embryo and fetus. Radiations are a special type of Teratogens, leading to adverse effects in the growing fetus and embryo. It is important to understand that in life, we are often exposed to various kinds of radiation although they often have minimal or no effects on our lives. However, the embryo, in the early weeks of pregnancy are often very sensitive to even the weakest forms of radiations, and thus they have to be shielded as far as possible. These fetus are usually radiosentive, and should be kept away from these radiations in the best way possible by the expectant mothers (Cademartiri, 2012). The prevention of exposures to these radiations is essential so that these mothers can reduce and stop cases of congenital malformations, prenatal death, miscocephaly and even certain types of cancers later in life after the child has grown. Practical examples of the effects of radiations The atomic bombs that were dropped in Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan to end the Second World War illustrate how harmful radiations can be on human beings. Many years after the bombs were dropped, the Japanese in these regions have continued to suffer from the effects of the radiations. Many children are being born with various kinds of deformations up to date. This illustrates that besides congenital malfunctions to the growing fetus and embryo, radiations have adverse effects to people in the later years (Schaefer, 2007). Another example where radiations have affected people in various ways includes Chernobyl, where errors cause spillage of the radiations. People encountered these harmful radiations, many of the women that were pregnant at that time experienced prenatal deaths, while other gave birth to deformed children. Many people have ended up suffering from various kinds of cancers long after it happened. Some of the children that were born did not grow to maturity because of the effects of those radiations. Currently, many people often have various medical examinations using CT scans and X-rays, most of which uses radiations. The point of concern is always on how these radiations affect pregnant women, who have fetus and embryo developing in their wombs (Briggs & Freeman, 2005). Medical evidence has shown that these radiations often have no effect on the developing fetus because of the low levels of these radiations. However, once the particular doses increase, the radiations come along with multiple effects, which may include prenatal deaths and other kinds of congenital malformations. X-irradiation and Prenatal Radiation Exposure Radiations refer to the energy, which travels in the form of waves and appears in two major forms, ionization and non-ionization radiation. Ionization radiation is that which is produced by an unstable atom through its nucleus. This happens in the decay process reaching a stable condition. This kind of radiation can be produced in an accident that involves nuclear wastes of a very high level; additionally, they have the ability to break various molecular bonds. This process later brings about different kinds of chemical reactions, most of which are often unpredictable, including different kinds of gene mutations. Conrad Wilhelm discovered x-radiations in 1895, and one year after its discovery, the rays found their use in the medical field (Picart, 2012). After the end of the First World War, the presence of X-irradiations for the use in therapeutic processes became very popular (Parker, 2003). The process began finding use, being used on pregnant women as well as those that were not. This kind of treatment was applied for different kinds of gynecological conditions that include cervical carcinoma. During early 1920s and the whole of that decade, many women that had been irradiated reported various cases of abnormalities in the children that were being born, particularly to microcephaly or tiny head circumference. Research that was carried out on the effects of these radiations indicated that 625 women that had earlier been exposed to these radium pelvic therapies had experienced serious outcomes. In this case, it was openly shown that the prenatal maternal irradiations had resulted in various gross anomalies. The analysis of that data showed that approximately 70% of all the microcephalic children had been exposed to these radiations before their fifth month of pregnancy. In one third of the children that were affected microcephaly was found present during and at birth. Similarly, it also became in the rest of the children within the period that ranged between 3 and 12 years. How the radiations affect the embryo Exposure to prenatal radiations often happens when the abdomen of the mother is exposed to the radiations, which often come from the external and immediate environment. Pregnant women can often breathe in or swallow some of the radioactive elements that often get absorbed in the bloodstream, with the potential of causing exposures to prenatal radiations (Igbaseimokumo, 2009). This process happens when the radioactive materials crosses the blood of the mother and joins the blood stream of the developing fetus. The severity of the effects depends on the period of the pregnancy or gestation period during the time of exposure and the amount of radiations that the developing fetus was exposed to. It is important to note that in most cases, the fetus receives a lower dose of the radiations compared to those that the mother is often exposed to. However, during the initial stages of pregnancy, the fetus has a lower immune systems, which is very sensitive to the radioactive elements. For this reason, it is important that the mother avoid environments and conditions that can have these radiations in order to protect the growing and developing fetus. It is important to note that the first trimester into the pregnancy period is a very critical period. Usually, the first ten days after the start of the menstrual cycle have no risks factors on the mother or the fetus to be developed. Two works into the pregnancy exposure to radiations is very harmful and dangerous, this is because, is often causes its death. During this time, the developing embryo comprises of few radioactive-sensitive cells. In this case, the death of one cell because of exposure to these radiations causes the death of one of the cells and hence the whole embryo. On the other hand, the fetuses that survive death from these exposures often do not develop other forms of defects irrespective of the degree of exposures. In the proceedings stages of development, large doses of exposure to these radiations have serious effects. In many cases, they often cause different forms of defects particularly to the brain of the developing child. During this stage the cells of the embryo are dividing actively and very fast, resulting in the formation of various tissues and organs. By the time the fetus is reaching its 16th week, the effects of the radiations when induced are quite unlikely unless the radiations are very high. At this time, the mother can even portray different signs of sensitive radiation syndrome, which is also known as the radiation sickness. By the time the fetus is reaching the 26th week, it is often fully-grown; however, it is not often completely grown. This fetus often has few complications at birth; however, that should not be a reason why the mother should expose herself to the radiations. When this child is exposed to these radiations at this time, it should be noted that in as much as it may not have complications at birth, it can suffer from different kinds of cancers later in life. Diagnostic Radiation and CT scans From the foregone discussion, it is evident that exposure to all kinds of radiations are not recommended for pregnant women. In fact, ionization radiations are the most health hazards to the life of the growing fetus; for this reason, avoiding exposure to these rays is often advised in all the medical procedures. Ultrasound examinations are often preferred in the process of determining the maturation process of the fetus, its visibility as well as placental localization. According to research more that 65 million CT scan examinations happen in many countries. Most of these examinations rely on exceptional X-ray equipment in order to obtain images and other kinds of data from the various angles of the pregnant woman’s body. It is important to understand that these radiations are often responsible for about two thirds of all the overall exposure to radiations that are related to medical activities. In fact, it is believed that most of these radiations to the patients are always higher compared to the rest of the other medical procedures like nuclear imaging. One of the questions that many people have been struggling with is whether these exposures from the CT scan medical procedures have an effect on the developing fetus. For pelvic scans, the uterus is often located directly in the path of the beams of the x-ray. The doses that are absorbed in this case are often approximately 20-80 mGy and to the particular fetus at around 10-20 mGy (Easton, 2009). During the medical procedure, adult exposures to the CT scan for the pelvis and abdomen is often approximately 200-250 times more compared to the X-ray of the chest, in this case, the fetus is often given a 10-20 mGy, which is still too low to meet the threshold of up to 100 mGy (Tack, 2012). In as much as this kind of radiation may not have serious effects to the fetus during the developmental stages, the fetus can be affected later in life. He may end up developing cancer of the blood, which is famously referred to as leukemia. During pregnancy, medical procedures often allow an ionization radiation of up to 50 mGy. In most of the medical procedures involving CT scan, no single examination goes beyond this point (Karthikeyan & Chegu, 2006). In this case, it is evident that it is possible to manage an X-ray without necessarily having to endanger the life of the growing embryo. If errors are encountered in the process, the accidents can result in the radiation exposure to by the embryo of up to 50-250 mGy. This is the maximum dose that can lead to different kinds of congenital malformations. In this case, it is important that medical experts take great care when undertaking this kind of medical procedures. A study that was carried out on rats showed that the prenatal X-irradiations can actually reduce the numbers of neurons (Manini, 2006). Conversely, those neurons that happen to survive can reproduce and cause the productions of connections normally. Ten days after a woman’s menstrual cycle, the pelvis, hips, lumbar spine and hips are supposed to be irradiated in order to prevent the woman from suffering any kind of harm. Effect of the radiations later in life From the forgone discussion, it is evident that exposures to radiations play a central role in affecting the developing fetus in various ways. During the early weeks of the pregnancy, exposures to these radiations are crucial to the developing fetus. However, at certain stages, the fetus is fully grown and cannot be affected much by the radiations especially at birth. However, this is not good news in that the effects are often severe as the child grows. One of the effects of these radiations later in life is that they often result in different kinds of cancers. One of the most common cancers in leukemia, which affects the child as it grows in its youthful life. Unfortunately, most of these cancers are incurable and most of the people that suffer from them end up dying before they can reach their early youthful lives. In this case, the only remedy is usually to avoid exposures to these rays during the time they are seeking medical examination. Additionally, exposures to radiations results in mental disorders by the children that survive the effects of these exposure during their childhood. Most of these children, just like those that suffer from the various kinds of cancers often die before they reach their youthful lives. It is also important to understand that these rays not only affect the child, but also the mother depending on the degree to which they are exposed. Parents are supposed to be careful when undertaking their antenatal care in order to protect their lives and those of their fetus. Conclusion From the foregone discussion, it is evident that exposure to most of the radiations does not often lead to serious effects that can be detrimental to the health of the embryo. This can only happen if qualified medical practitioners that understand the safety precautions in the process of making the CT scans undertake the medical process (Webb & Brant, 2006). The life of the developing fetus is very delicate, for this reason, the mother is expected to take precautions to ensure that they protect the developing fetus. It is important to note that radiations are not the only teratogens, parents should be careful to avoid all those agents that affect the life of the developing child. They have to understand that these preventive measures are not only effective for the life of the developing fetus but the parent as well. Parents are supposed to follow the advice of their doctors especially on the kinds of drugs they take and other chemicals they are often exposed to. This prevents the effects that can arise, affect the development of the fetus and the parent as well. References Briggs, G., & Freeman, R. (2005). Drugs in pregnancy and lactation: A reference guide to fetal and neonatal risk (7th ed.). Philadelphia, Pa.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Cademartiri, F. (2012). Clinical applications of cardiac CT (2nd ed.). Milan: Springer. Easton, S. (2009). An Introduction to Radiography. London: Elsevier Health Sciences UK. Kalter, H. (2003). Teratology in the twentieth century congenital malformations in humans and how their environmental causes were established. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Igbaseimokumo, U. (2009). Brain CT scans in clinical practice. New York: Springer. Karthikeyan, D., & Chegu, D. (2006). CT scan. Tunbridge Wells: Anshan. Manini, A. (2006). Controlled arteriogenesis of the uterine artery is essential for successful pregnancy. Zürich: Universität Zürich,. Parker, J. 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