Teratogens on the Developing Fetus

¶ … Teratogens on the developing fetus and child

Teratogens are toxic agents that can cause abnormal development that may lead to birth defects. It can also be viewed as any exposure that can cause harm to the unborn or a breastfeeding baby. Teratogenic substance does not affect each developing fetus in the same way. The highest risk posed by the teratogens on the fetus is during the development of organs i.e. organogenesis. There are a number of teratogens such as alcohol, prescribed or non-prescribed medications, illegal drugs, vaccines, illnesses, environmental exposures, occupational exposures or even maternal autoimmune disorders. Every woman has 3-5%risk of a baby that is born with a defect, however this risk may be increased greatly and all this is dependent on when exactly during the pregnancy is the teratogen exposed to the woman, the dose or amount that the woman is exposed to and the route of exposure. Defects that will be presented later like growth development and some functional impairment are usually hard to relate to teratogen exposure since the time between birth and impairment detection there can be exposure to other toxicants which may pose a great challenge in identifying the particular toxicant that is responsible (Gilbert, 2009)

This paper will look at alcohol as a teratogen, its effects on fetus and brain. Some of the long-term problems that the child can demonstrate due to the effects of alcohol as a teratogen will also be looked at. Finally the prognosis of their problem will be addressed and the significance of looking at alcohol as a teratogen to the general public.

Alcohol as a teratogen

Alcohol is among the known teratogenic agents, Ethanol-ethyl alcohol to be precise. It all depends on the amount that the pregnant woman consumes of the alcohol; the amounts will therefore determine the risk of miscarriage and the child birth defects. Alcohol when consumed during pregnancy can lead to behavioral, neurological and also skeletal problem in the baby after birth.

Effects of alcohol on the fetus and brain

A small moderate amount can cause Fetal Alcohol Effect which increases the risk of miscarriage, delays in development and child becomes hyperactive. On the other hand heavy use of alcohol eventually leads to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome which sees the increase of risk of miscarriage to a higher rate, the development of a small head size of a baby, some abnormalities in the face such as small eyes and nose, small nails, heart defects, learning difficulties, mental retardation, ear abnormalities and behavioral problems. Fetal alcohol syndrome is therefore is the term, which describes the patterns of birth defects that is found in children of mothers who consume alcohol when they are pregnant.

When MRI images of children with FAS is compared to brains of non-FAS children there is an indication that the brains deep gray matter is reduced in all regions of the brains of children with FAS.The deep gray matter serves as the brains relay station that sends and receives signals between the cortical regions of the brain, a healthy deep gray matter is essential for learning, memory, motor functions and emotions. The alcohol drunk by a pregnant mother therefore cause the deep gray matter of the unborn child not to develop as it would if there was no exposure to alcohol. This therefore causes these children to have les communication between the different regions of their brains (Buddy, 2012).

Long-term effects of alcohol fetus and child

Children who have been exposed to alcohol prenatally will develop a variety of problems in the long run this include; verbal learning, the children will exhibit a variety of problem in language and memory. Infants who are just learning to speak will have a difficulty in their quest to try and speak. On the other hand elementary school children will have a problem in class when they are taught as they only learn fewer words at a go. These problems are attributed to the initial stages of memory formation i.e. encoding but once they encode this they can retain the information and recall it. It will also cause fine and gross motor skill development and even the reasoning of children. The child might lack fine motor skills and they even have difficulties in making and keeping friends. The children may also luck imaginative skills or curiosity and poor memory. They lack the ability to solve problems and the skill to comprehend language is also not there.

Child development stages

According to theorists Piaget, Vygotsky and Erikson, there are three broad stages of childhood development these are the early childhood which is a stage between birth and eight years and the middle childhood which is between eight years and twelve years and adolescence. Alcohol as a teratogen has effects on these stages of development in different ways. In the early childhood stage the child is going through tremendous growth across all areas of development; however FAS children will lag behind in this stage. They have poor skill development when it comes to things like walking, sitting, coordination. They also have poor development in fine and gross motor skills and also the language and cognitive development.

In the middle childhood the cognitive development is slow and steady, the FAS child is still poor in their learning skills .it is at this stage that a child is expected to develop interpersonal and social relationship FAS children however will find it hard to build this relationships and they will learn little or nothing from their family and peers which is the great source of learning at this stage. Since this is the stage where school going begins the children will have a problem of attention in class, they will have a difficulty in focusing and sustaining attention over time. The children are also associated with a problem of reaction times as they have a slower and less efficient information processing system.

Finally the adolescent stage is the period that records an accelerated growth. This stage marks the beginning of adulthood and hence individuals are expected to be more responsible and be able to be good in executing functions.FAS children have deficits in executing functions, this are activities that require abstract thinking like planning and organizing. These children may also become alcoholics since that had prior exposure to alcohol (State university.com, 2011)