January 2008

NHM Health Focus: National Birth Defects Prevention Month

January is National Birth Defects Prevention Month.

"Birth defects affect about one in every 33 babies born in the United States each year. They are the leading cause of infant deaths, accounting for more than 20 percent of all infant deaths. Babies born with birth defects have a greater chance of illness and long term disability than babies without birth defects." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Sixty to seventy percent of birth defects have unknown causes. The remaining 30 - 35 percent are known to be caused by environmental and genetic factors.

Environmental factors known to cause birth defects include:

• Physical factors including x-rays and radiation
• Chemical factors including alcohol, tobacco, drugs, lack of a needed vitamin e.g. folic acid, or excess of a nutrient e.g. vitamin A
• Biological factors including illnesses caused by viruses such as Rubella

Genetic factors include:

• Autosomal Dominant Inheritance (e.g. Marfan's Syndrome, Huntington's disease, Familial hypercholesterolemia)
• Autosomal Recessive Inheritance (e.g. Cystic fibrosis, Tay-Sachs disease, Sickle cell disease)
• X-Linked Recessive Inheritance (e.g. Hemophilia, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Red-green color blindness)
  

"While the causes of most birth defects are not known, there are a number of steps a woman can take to reduce her risk of having a baby with a birth defect."( March of Dimes) To best increase chances of having a healthy baby, the March of Dimes recommends that before becoming pregnant, a woman should:

• schedule a pre-pregnancy visit with her health care provider
• avoid alcohol, smoking, and street drugs
• not take any medication — prescription, over-the-counter, or herbal — without first checking with her health care provider
• take a daily multivitamin containing 400 micrograms of the B-vitamin folic acid
  

Access Excellence @ the National Health Museum has these additional resources related to birth defects and their prevention:

• Activities Exchange: Fellows Collection - Sequencing the Cystic Fibrosis Gene: A Simulation
• Let's Collaborate - Scientific Basis of Nutrition or Are We Really What We Eat - Minerals