Therapist Unlimited Blog

Medical researchers has warned pregnant mothers around the world to avoid constant exposure to tetrachloroethylene (also known as perchlorethylene, PCE) since it could cause congenital birth defects.
According to a medical study of expectant women exposed to PCE in drinking water, it was discovered that an increased risk of oral clefts and neural tube defects in their children.
Ann Aschengrau, from Boston University School of Public Health, USA, worked with a team of researchers to study the prevalence of birth defects in the children of women from 8 towns in Cape Cod who had been exposed to PCE during the period 1969-1983.
Aschengrau revealed the results suggest that the risk of certain congenital anomalies is increased among the offspring of women who were exposed to PCE-contaminated drinking water around the time of conception".

Pregnant women should keep their babies safe from birth defects by avoiding constant exposure to PCE.

From the late 1960s until 1980, hundreds of miles of pipe that had been lined with a vinyl coating containing PCE were laid in the area. It wasn’t until 1980 that officials realized the danger, creating what the researchers describe as "A vast natural experiment reminiscent of John Snow’s cholera investigation in 1854 London."
Boston University investigators found that there were 61 children with congenital anomalies among the 1,658 children with some prenatal PCE exposure and 95 children with congenital anomalies among 2,999 children with no prenatal PCE exposure.
Prenatal exposure was associated with increases in the risk of oral clefts and neural tube defects (particularly anencephaly).
Speaking about these findings, Aschengrau said, "Because PCE remains a commonly used solvent and frequent contaminant of ground and drinking water supplies, it is important to understand its impact on the developing fetus."
 

Those persons who are constantly exposed to coal dust better seek an immediate medical help now.
This developed after a recent medical study has shown that coal dust exposure is directly linked to severity of emphysema in smokers and nonsmokers alike.
According to the study made by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) it was discovered that coal mine dust exposure is a significant predictor of emphysema severity.
The researchers discovered that cumulative exposure to respirable coal mine dust was a highly significant predictor of emphysema severity after accounting for cigarette smoking, age at death, and race. Miners tended to be older at death than non-miners
due to a higher proportion of accidental or other sudden deaths among the non-miners.
The researchers also found out that miners also smoked less on average, though differences were nonsignificant.
However, emphysema in miners was significantly more severe than in non-miners among both smokers and never-smokers.
Unsurprisingly, emphysema was also more severe among smokers than never smokers in both miners and non-miners.
The team of researchers said coal mine dust exposure and cigarette smoking had similar, additive effects on emphysema.

People need to avoid constant exposure to coal dust since it could cause and worsen emphysema.

The team of researchers explained the lung tissue analysis corroborated these findings; the greater the concentration of coal dusts in the lungs, the more severe the emphysema.
It is said that a 99-point increase on the 1000-point emphysema severity index scale is equivalent to an approximately 10 percent increase in diseased lung tissue.
Previous studies have shown that a 99-point increase in emphysema severity could mean the difference between "normal" and "abnormal" lung function or the worsening of existing lung function.
Moreover, the researcher said coal mine dust exposure is now generally accepted as a cause of COPD.
The researchers said their study will provide the basis for improved recognition of dust-induced COPD, its relationship to cigarette smoking, and may enhance efforts at prevention, diagnosis and medical management of occupational dust-related lung diseases.
They said the environmental and climatic impacts of burning coal are, quite rightly, a source of concern.
However, the direct consequences of extracting coal on the health of millions of coal miners must be an equal concern.
The team revealed improving disease surveillance and awareness among healthcare professionals about the occupational components of COPD including emphysema can increase the effective detection and management of these diseases.
 

People need to avoid constant exposure to coal dust since it could cause and worsen emphysema.

Parents around the world need to be careful in the use phthalates as new pieces of evidence, showed that exposure to that kind of chemical compound could result in low birth weights in infants.
Phthalates is a chemical compound used as plasticizers in a wide variety of personal care products, children’s toys, and medical devices.
It is said that low birth weight is the leading cause of death in children under 5 years of age and increases the risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disease in adulthood.
Based on the research conducted by medical experts they found out that utero phthalate exposure contributes to low birth weight in infants.
Dr. Renshan Ge of the Population Council and colleagues from Fudan University and Second Military Medical University in Shanghai studied 201 pairs of newborns and their mothers between 2005 and 2006.

Pregnant women need to avoid exposure to phthalates since it could lead to low birth weight for their infants.

 Of the 201 infants studied, 88 were born with low birth weight. The researchers analyzed samples of the infants’ meconium, the first bowel movement that occurs after birth, and cord blood to determine phthalate levels.
They found quantifiable levels of phthalate and phthalate metabolites in more than 70% of the samples. Infants with low birth weight had consistently higher levels of phthalates.
Ge said the results showed that phthalate exposure was ubiquitous in these newborns, and that prenatal phthalate exposure might be an environmental risk factor for low birth weight in infants.
The researchers said that with the possible harmful effects it offers there is a need to minimize phthalate exposure.