chds and the environment

Folic Acid May Play Role in Prevention of Congenital Heart Defects

2006-03-24T07:27:00.000-08:00

A study in the March 2006 issue of European Heart Journal by the Children's Heart Center in the Netherlands has reported that mothers with certain gene variants for folate metabolism have an increased risk of conotruncal heart defects in their children if they do not take folic acid in the periconceptual period. These findings suggest a protective role for folate supplementation in the prevention of conotruncal heart defects in mothers with these gene variants.

Maternal MTHFR 677C>T is a risk factor for congenital heart defects: effect modification by periconceptional folate supplementation.
Eur Heart J. 2006 Mar 7

Heart Defects #1 Birth Defect

2006-02-15T06:31:00.000-08:00

February 15th is Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day, a day that recognizes the No. 1 birth defect in the United States. According to the American Heart Association, almost twice as many children in the U.S. die from congenital heart defects as from all forms of childhood cancer combined. Congenital heart defects occur in approximately 1 in every 100 births.
Of the 35 known congenital heart defects, Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) is considered to be one of the worst. In HLHS, the left side of the heart is underdeveloped. It occurs in approximately one of every 6,000 births.
Fifteen years ago, it was a virtual death sentence. HLHS cannot be "fixed", but while current surgical treatment cannot cure HLHS, it can lengthen the lives of babies born with it. For more information on congenital heart defects, visit http://tchin.org or www.americanheart.org.

FDA Requires Stronger Warning on Paxil

2005-12-19T07:53:00.000-08:00

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is requiring a stronger warning that the antidepressant Paxil may be associated with birth defects. A second study found increased risk of fetuses developing heart defects when their mothers took Paxil during pregnancy.

The FDA asked manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline PLC to reclassify the drug as a ``Category D'' drug for pregnant women. The classification means that studies in pregnant women have shown a risk to the fetus.

Two studies of pregnant women taking Paxil during their first trimester have now shown their babies have heart defects one and a half to two times a greater rate than the norm, the FDA said. The agency announced the strengthened warning on December 8th. It issued a previous warning in September.

The FDA is advising doctors not to prescribe Paxil to women in their first three months of pregnancy or women who are planning to become pregnant, unless there are no other treatment options. (from Associated Press news report)

Folic Acid May Prevent Some Heart, Skeletal, Stomach and Kidney Defects

2005-11-07T10:38:00.000-08:00

According to a study recently published in Birth Defects Research (Part A), mandatory fortification of the U.S. grain supply with folic acid may have helped to reduce the rate of transposition of the great arteries, cleft palate, pyloric stenosis, limb reduction defects and omphalocele (organs outside the abdomen). In Hispanic women, substantial decreases were also noted for renal agenesis (a fatal kidney defect) and common truncus (a heart defect). Upper limb reduction defects also decreased among children born to Hispanics. The study was conducted by the National Birth Defects Prevention Network.

Canfield MA, Collins JS, Botto LD et al. Changes in the Birth Prevalence of Selected Birth Defects after Grain Fortification with Folic Acid in the United States: Findings from a Multi-State Population Based Study. Birth Defects Research, Part !. 2005-73:679-689.

Paxil Associated with Increase in Congenital Heart Defects

2005-09-28T08:53:00.000-07:00

Drug Company Study Associates Paxil With Increase In Congenital Heart Defects

The Food and Drug Administration is warning that the antidepressant drug Paxil may be associated with increases in birth defects. A study by GlaxoSmith Kine has found increased numbers of babies born with birth defects to women who were taking Paxil during the first trimester of pregnancy. The most significant risk was for congenital heart defects. The FDA released a letter from the manufacturer on Tuesday with a warning to health care professionals about the new study results. : http://www.fda.gov/

chds and the environment

2005-09-20T07:51:00.000-07:00

Congenital Heart Defects Doubled in Neighborhood with Chemical Spill

Babies born in a polluted neighborhood in Endicott, New York have more than double the expected rate of congenital heart defects. The Department of Health has documented at least 15 cases of CHDs over a 17-year period in a neighborhood of only 2,600 people. The neighborhood, where the high rate of heart defects has been documented, is polluted by an underground plume of chemical vapors from an electronics manufacturer. One of the main toxic chemicals in the neighborhood is trichloroethylene (TCE), once widely used in the electronics industry. Studies have linked TCE with heart defects and other birth defects like cleft lip and palate.

From Press and Sun Bulletin. Binghamton NY Sept. 18, 2005.

chds and the environment

2005-08-23T10:35:00.000-07:00

Risk of CHDs increased in offspring of women with diabetes.

To evaluate the effect of pre-gestational diabetes on pregnancy outcome, cases with congenital abnormalities were identified in the population-based Hungarian Congenital Abnormality Registry from 1980 to 1996 with two newborn children without congenital abnormality selected from the National Birth Registry as controls.
Pre-gestational maternal diabetes was associated with strong teratogenic effects on the kidney, urinary tract, and heart, and strongly associated with multiple congenital abnormalities.
The association was strongest for the following congenital abnormalities: renal agenesis (POR: 14.8; 95% CI, 3.5-62.1), obstructive congenital abnormalities of the urinary tract (POR: 4.3; 95% CI, 1.3-13.9), cardiovascular congenital abnormalities (POR: 3.4; 95% CI, 2.0-5.7), and multiple congenital abnormalities (POR: 5.0; 95% CI, 2.4-10.2).

Diabet Med. 2005 Jun;22(6):693-6.

chds and the environment

2005-07-27T08:42:00.000-07:00

chds and the environment

Father's Exposures Associated with Congenital Heart Defects

Johns Hopkins researchers have found possible associations between paternal exposures and congenital heart malformations. As part of the Baltimore-Washington Infant study, interviews were conducted with case and control parents about parental home and occupational exposures. Analysis focused on twelve cardiac diagnostic groups and paternal exposures during the six months preceding the pregnancy. Associations were identified between jewelry making and atrial septal defect and membranous ventricular septal defect; welding and endocardial cushion defect (without Down Syndrome) and ionizing radiation and endocardial defect (without Down Syndrome). Paint stripping was associated with hypoplastic left heart syndrome in the presence of a family history of cardiac defects.

J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol. 1993;3 Suppl 1: 173-85

chds and the environment

2005-06-28T11:59:00.000-07:00

chds and the environment

L-Transposition of Great Arteries: Possible Association With Toxic Environmental Factors

Researchers in the Department of Cardiology at Children's National Medical Center at George Washington School of Medicine conducted a case-control study of 36 cases of children with L-tga compared to 3,495 population-based live born infant controls. L-tga was strongly associated with residency in two small regions of Maryland and the District of Columbia and with other parental personal and occupational exposures including hair dye, smoking and laboratory chemicals. Both residency areas are characterized by release of toxic chemicals into air and by hazardous waste sites.

Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol. 2003 Mar;67(3):162-7.

chds and the environment

2005-05-24T12:07:00.000-07:00

chds and the environment

Some Congenital Heart Defects Increased In Infants Conceived After the War by Men Who Served in the Gulf War

Researchers at the Department of Defense Center for Deployment Health Research in San Diego found a higher prevalence of tricuspid valve insufficiency and aortic valve stenosis in infants conceived after the war by men who served in the Gulf War. Although the study did not have the ability to determine if the excess was caused by inherited or environmental factors, there were 31 categories of environmental exposures in the Gulf that are known reproductive toxicants.

Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol. 2003 Apr:67(4):246-60.

chds and the environment

2005-04-21T12:50:00.000-07:00

chds and the environment

Increased risk of VSDs Associated with Maternal Use of Cold and Cough Remedies

A case-control study published in the European Journal of Clinical Pharmacological found an increased risk of ventricular septal heart defects in the babies of mothers who took cold and/or cough medications during pregnancy. A total of 296 case control pairs from pediatric cardiology units in Newcastle upon Tyne and Leeds were studied.

Bateman DN et al. A case control study to examine the pharmacological factors underlying ventricular septal defects in the North of England. Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 2004 Nov:60(9):635-41. Epub 2004 Sep 23.

chds and the environment

2005-03-10T08:15:00.000-08:00

Clustering of Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome in Wisconsin> Eastern Wisconsin, particularly the urban southest region, reported elevated rates of Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome in children born between 1997-1999. Because of the geographic clustering of high rates, environmental factors may be associated with this finding.

Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol. 2004 Mar: 70(3):114-20.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15039925

chds and the environment

2005-02-09T07:55:00.000-08:00

chds and the environmentMaternal Obesity and Infant Heart Defects In a Swedish case-control study of 6,801 women who had infants with CHDs, a positive association was found between maternal obesity in early pregnancy and congenital heart defects in the offspring. The association between maternal obesity and VSDs (ventricular septal defects) and ASDs (atrial septal defects) reached statistical significance. A suggested explanation is undetected type 2 diabetes in early pregnancy, but other explanations may exist.

Obes Res. 2003 Sep;11(9):1065-71.Maternal obesity and infant heart defects.Cedergren MI, Kallen BA.Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linkoping University, Linkoping, Sweden. marie.cedergren@lio.se

chds and the environment

2005-01-04T08:51:00.000-08:00

chds and the environmentMethylmercury and children's heart function. Pregnant women who consume significant amounts of seafood may have a new reason to take precautions against mercury: their children's future cardiovascular health may be jeopardized. Environmental Health Perspectives [related stories] http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2004/112-15/forum.html?section=children#meth

chds and the environment

2005-01-04T08:49:00.000-08:00

chds and the environment

2004-12-13T11:54:00.000-08:00

chds and the environment Drinking Water Contaminants and Congenital Heart Defects
Concern for exposures to drinking water contaminants and their effects on adverse birth outcomes has prompted several studies evaluating chlorination disinfection by-products and chlorinated solvents. Some of these contaminants are found to be teratogenic (cause birth defects) in animal studies. This review evaluates 14 studies on chlorination disinfection by-products such as trihalomethanes (THMs) and five studies on chlorinated solvents such as trichloroethylene (TCE). Because excess rates of Neural Tube Defects (NTDs), oral clefts, cardiac defects, and choanal atresia were found in studies of TCE- contaminated drinking water, further study was recommended.

http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2002/suppl-1/61-74bove/bove-full.html

TCE and Congenital Heart Defects

2004-11-01T08:08:00.000-08:00

chds and the environm In 1980, researchers noticed an abnormally high number of children being born with congenital heart defects. Many of the children were born to mothers who lived in Southern Arizona, in just one zip code. In 1981 after drinking water wells contaminated with an industrial solvent trichloroethylene (TCE) were closed, the rate of heart defects decreased.

Epidemiological studies confirmed an association between women in their first trimester who were exposed to drinking water contaminated by TCE and an increased prevalence of heart defects in their children. Once the contaminated wells were closed, the rate of heart defects decreased, but researchers still didn't know exactly if and how TCE related to the malformations. Read more: http://superfund.pharmacy.arizona.edu/news/tcefinal.html

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chds and the environment

2004-10-22T11:50:00.000-07:00

chds and the environment"Doctors and nurses need more environmental health training to prevent, recognize, and treat diseases caused by environmental exposures, according to a new study funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Experts recommend that medical and nursing schools add environmental health topics to training programs."

To read the rest of the news release go to http://www.niehs.nih.gov/oc/news/pedtrng.htm

chds and the environment

2004-10-20T12:35:00.000-07:00

chds and the environment The full text of this article is available at the following link.
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/113/4/S1/1058

CHDs and the Environment

2004-10-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

CHDs and the Environment This is an interesting study. How can I get a copy of the entire article?

Congenital Heart Defects and the Environment

2004-10-18T13:27:00.000-07:00

CHD Research Brief - October, 2004

Pediatrics. 2004 Apr;113(4 Suppl):1058-69.

Effects of environmental exposures on the cardiovascular system: prenatal period through adolescence.Mone SM, Gillman MW, Miller TL, Herman EH, Lipshultz SE.Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.Exposures to drugs, chemical and biological agents, therapeutic radiation, and other factors before and after birth can lead to pediatric or adult cardiovascular anomalies. Furthermore, nutritional deficiencies in the perinatal period can cause cardiovascular anomalies. These anomalies may affect heart structure, the conduction system, the myocardium, blood pressure, or cholesterol metabolism. Developmental periods before and after birth are associated with different types of risks. The embryonic period is the critical window of vulnerability for congenital malformations. The fetal period seems to have lifelong effects on coronary heart disease and its precursors. During the weeks immediately after birth, susceptibility to myocardial damage seems to be high. Exposure to cancer chemotherapy or radiotherapy in childhood raises the risk of long-term progressive left ventricular dysfunction and other cardiovascular problems. In childhood and adolescence, use of recreational drugs such as cocaine and tobacco poses cardiovascular dangers as well. Where evidence about environmental exposures is limited, we have included models of disease and other exposures that are suggestive of the potential impact of environmental exposures.