PRENATAL EXPOSURE ADHD

Prenatal Exposure To Toxins and ADHD

Prenatal Exposure ADHD

Statement of Problem

The human brain continues to develop over the first 21 years of life, and especially in the first three years of life. The developmental window that extends from birth to age three is a time of explosive growth in cognitive, emotional, verbal and social development. Recent advances in brain imaging have greatly contributed to our understanding of the effects of prenatal drug exposure on the developing human brain. This is a relatively new and exciting area of research that will eventually enable us to relate imaging findings to behavior and gene by environment interactions as determinants of critical long term outcomes of children with prenatal drug exposure including psychopathology and adolescent substance use onset. We say “drug use of interest” (Milberger 1996) because one of the main difficulties in the field of substance use during pregnancy is prenatal substance abuse. Most women who use drugs during pregnancy use more than one drug and this is especially true for illegal substances. Women who use cocaine or methamphetamine during pregnancy often also use tobacco, alcohol and marijuana and to a lesser extent, opiates. Among legal prenatal substance users, alcohol and tobacco are often used together.

The problem of prenatal drug use is problematic because very little is known about how drug interactions and combinations affect fetal development and, in order to isolate the effects of a specific drug large sample sizes are needed. With a large sample size there may be enough statistical power and variability among various combinations of drugs to be able to covary (Wakschlag 2006)or adjust the effects of the drug of interest for the effects of other drugs. However, the complexity and expense of brain imaging studies usually precludes samples that have the statistical power to adjust for covariates. For example, (Wakschlag 2007)found an initial effect for prenatal cocaine exposure on brain volume but the cocaine effect was no longer statistically significant when other substances were controlled. Therefore, we cannot determine if the “true” effect in this study is a prenataldrug effect or if unique cocaine effects would be observed with a larger sample size.

Literature Review

Maternal substance abuse may consist of any combination of drug, chemical, alcohol, or smoking use during the pregnancy. While in the womb, a fetus grows and develops due to the nourishment from the mother via the placenta. However, along with nutrients, any toxins in the mother's system may be delivered to the fetus. These toxins often cause damage to the developing fetal organs. Babies born to substance abusing mothers may have short- or long-term effects. Short-term withdrawal symptoms vary from mild fussiness to significant issues with irritability, feeding, jitteriness, and diarrhea. The diagnosis for babies with clinical findings of withdrawal can often be confirmed with results from drug testing the baby's urine or stool(Griesler Kandel 1998).

More significant long-term developmental problems may be seen in babies who are born with growth retardation or various organ problems. Infants born to mothers who drink, even in ...