Skip to main content

FEVER IN EARLY PREGNANCY HARMS YOUR BABY

Researchers have known for decades that fevers in the first trimester of pregnancy increase risk for some heart defects and facial deformities such as cleft lip or palate.

But they have not known the reason for those defects.They thougt it was due to the root cause of the fever.It may be virus or bacteria.

Recently researchers of the Duke University Medical Center has found that fever it self cause those defects and it does not depend on the root cause.

Fever in first three to eight weeks of pregnancy can interfere with the development of heart and face of the fetus.According to results of the research they suggest a portion of congenital birth defects could be prevented by lowering the mother's fever with the judicious use of acetaminophen during the first trimester.Some Non Steroidal anti-inflammatory Drugs(NSAIDs) like ibuprofen and aspirin can also reduce the fever, but they have some adverse effects on late stages of the pregnancy.So those drugs are not good for use.

Neural crest cells play a big role in development of heart and face in embryo.Researchers found that those neural crest cells have some properties(some iron channels) that sensitive to the heat. To observe how fever impacts a developing fetus, the researchers studied zebrafish and chicken embryos.

Journal Reference:


Mary R. Hutson et al. Temperature-activated ion channels in neural crest cells confer maternal fever–associated birth defectsScience Signaling, October 2017 DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.aal4055


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How healthy is genetically modified soybean oil?

University of California-Riverside Soybean oil accounts for more than 90 percent of all the seed oil production in the United States. Genetically modified soybean oil, made from seeds of GM soybean plants, was recently introduced into the food supply on the premise that it is healthier than conventional soybean oil. But is that premise true? Just barely, say scientists. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have tested a genetically-modified (GM) soybean oil used in restaurants and found that while it induces less obesity and insulin resistance than conventional soybean oil, its effects on diabetes and fatty liver are similar to those of conventional soybean oil.

Babies are born to dance, new research shows

University of York The findings, based on the study of infants aged between five months and two years old, suggest that babies may be born with a predisposition to move rhythmically in response to music. The research was conducted by Dr Marcel Zentner, from the University of York's Department of Psychology, and Dr Tuomas Eerola, from the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research at the University of Jyvaskyla.

Using mushrooms as a prebiotic may help improve glucose regulation

August 16, 2018 Penn State Eating white button mushrooms can create subtle shifts in the microbial community in the gut, which could improve the regulation of glucose in the liver, according to a team of researchers. They also suggest that better understanding this connection between mushrooms and gut microbes in mice could one day pave the way for new diabetes treatments and prevention strategies for people.