Medications pass from the mother to the fetus primarily through the placenta in the same way as the nutrients the fetus needs for growth and development. Substances which a woman takes when she is pregnant can affect the fetus in several ways: act directly on the fetus, cause damage and abnormal development or lead to the death, change the function of the placenta, usually due to narrowing the blood vessels, violate the exchange of oxygen and nutrients, or just cause harm to the fetus due to the decrease of blood supply. Teratogens are all those substances that have a harmful effect on a fetus, thus, they have to be avoided during pregnancy.
Thalidomide is the teratogen which I am going to examine. This drug is never prescribed to pregnant women at modern times because it causes gross birth defects. The drug was first introduced in 1956 as a sedative drug and as a remedy against flu in Europe. In 1962, it was shown that thalidomide used by pregnant women during the development of fetal organs causes severe birth defects, including underdevelopment of the hands and feet, intestinal defects of the heart and blood vessels. In August 1958, the company Grünenthal issued a notification, stating that the thalidomide is the best medicine for pregnant women and nursing mothers. This item was almost immediately reflected in the advertising by Distiller company in the UK despite the fact that the study of the effect of the drug on the fetus have not been conducted either by the German company Grünenthal, no by English Distiller (Suffer The Children 19). Thalidomide has been applied successfully to eliminate the unpleasant symptoms associated with pregnancy, such as insomnia, anxiety, and morning sickness. Since 1959, Grünenthal company began to receive letters from the reports of peripheral neuritis about the side effects of the drug. There were opinions that the drug should not be sold freely. However, thalidomide continued to hold leading positions in sales.
At the end of 1961, there was identified a link between the increased number of birth defects in newborns, and the fact that the mothers of these children took thalidomide in early pregnancy. Thereafter, the drug began to be removed from the drug stored worldwide. In early 1962, there was an assumption that, since 1959, about 2000-3000 child victims of thalidomide were born in West Germany (Roskies 25). In total, according to various estimates, as a result of thalidomide, about 40 000 people received peripheral neuritis, from 8000 to 12 000 infants were born with physical deformities, of which only about 5,000 were not killed at an early age, but left disabled for life.
As it turned out, thalidomide has teratogenic effects and is the most dangerous in the early stages of pregnancy. The critical period for the fetus - 34-50 days after the last menstrual period in women. The likelihood of a child with physical deformities appears after taking just one pill of thalidomide in this period of time (Deformities Caused By Thalidomide 6). Damage to the fetus caused by thalidomide, touch a variety of body parts, especially the defects or the absence of limbs, ears, eye defects and mimic muscles. In addition, thalidomide affects the formation of the internal organs, acting destructively on all the organs and systems of the fetus, and can lead in some cases to the birth of children with mental retardation, epilepsy, and autism. What is the most awful, these physical deformities can be inherited. This idea belongs to the British Society of thalidomide victims representitives. They told the story of 15-year-old Rebecca, granddaughter of a women who took thalidomide when she was pregnant. This girl was born with typical deformities associated with this drug.
Works cited
Deformities Caused By Thalidomide. London: N.p., 1964. 5-17. Print.
Roskies, Ethel. Abnormality And Normality: The Mothering Of Thalidomide Children. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1972. 1-347. Print.
Suffer The Children. New York: Viking Press, 1979. 10-32. Print.
