• It is essential to understand the effect of medications and to know the point in fetal development when drugs are most toxic and which fetal organs are most susceptible. (medscape.com)
  • Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell announced that the administration is moving $81 million away from biomedical research and other health programs to continue Zika vaccine development funding, which would run out by the end of the month otherwise. (kffhealthnews.org)
  • The Obama administration on Thursday said it was shifting $81 million away from biomedical research and antipoverty and health care programs to pay for the development of a Zika vaccine, resorting to extraordinary measures because Congress has failed to approve new funding to combat the virus. (kffhealthnews.org)
  • Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the secretary of health and human services, told members of Congress in a letter that without the diverted funds, the National Institutes of Health and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority would run out of money to confront the mosquito-borne illness by the end of the month. (kffhealthnews.org)
  • Secretary Burwell, in her letter, said the administration now has to "choose between delaying critical vaccine development work and raiding other worthy government programs to temporarily avoid" delays in vaccine research on Zika. (kffhealthnews.org)
  • It is essential to understand the effect of medications and to know the point in fetal development when drugs are most toxic and which fetal organs are most susceptible. (medscape.com)
  • There is no consensus on the significance of cavitation effects in human fetal tissue, but some evidence suggests that mammalian tissue may contain microbubbles that are susceptible to cavitation effects. (chriskresser.com)
  • The Organization of Teratology Information Specialists is a network of risk-assessment counselors in the United States and Canada who specialize in researching and communicating the risks associated with drug exposures in pregnancy. (medscape.com)
  • During normal pregnancy, increases in whole-body temperature of up to 4.5 degrees F (2.5 C) are presumed to be safe, and research suggests that elevations of tissue temperature up to 1.8 - 2.7 degrees F (1.0 to 1.5 C) caused by ultrasound are also safe. (chriskresser.com)
  • Though both animal and human studies have shown that temperature elevations can cause abnormal development and birth defects, so far human studies have not shown a direct causal relationship between diagnostic ultrasound exposure during pregnancy and adverse effects to the developing baby. (chriskresser.com)
  • Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) refers to a range of negative developmental outcomes that result from maternal drinking during pregnancy. (cureepilepsy.org)
  • The risk of inducing thermal effects is greater in the second and third trimesters, when fetal bone is intercepted by the ultrasound beam and significant temperature increase can occur in the fetal brain. (chriskresser.com)
  • Nonetheless, Savage added that it is clear that alcohol can damage the fetal brain. (cureepilepsy.org)
  • Approximately 3-5% of live births are complicated by a birth defect each year, totaling around 120,000 babies. (medscape.com)
  • In the last article in this series on natural childbirth, I reviewed evidence suggesting that routine prenatal ultrasound does not improve birth outcomes for mothers or babies, and that organizations like the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists recommend ultrasound scans only for specific reasons. (chriskresser.com)
  • 1] Drug use is an uncommon cause of birth defects, but certain medications can increase the likelihood of developing a birth defect. (medscape.com)
  • When modern sophisticated equipment is used at maximum operating settings for Doppler examinations, the acoustic outputs are sufficient to produce obvious biological effects, e.g. significant temperature increase in tissue or visible motion of particles due to radiation pressure streaming effects. (chriskresser.com)
  • A physician caring for a pregnant patient who requires medication should take care in choosing dosages and types of drugs that maximize effectiveness while minimizing fetal risk. (medscape.com)
  • Relationships between a confirmed FASD diagnosis and other risk factors - such as exposure to alcohol or other drugs, type of birth, and trauma - were examined for the co-occurrence of epilepsy or a history of seizures. (cureepilepsy.org)
  • neural defects , Zika abnormalities , and reports and findings . (jmir.org)