Fetal exposure to environmental toxicants may program the development of children and have long-lasting health impacts. The study tested the hypothesis that depressed height gain in childhood is associated with prenatal exposure to airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and heavy metals (lead and mercury). The study sample comprised 379 children born to non-smoking mothers among whom a...

Studies show that residents of disadvantaged neighborhoods drink more heavily than residents of more affluent neighborhoods. However, explanations for this association are not well developed. Using data collected from a sample of low-income women with children from Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio, we explore the possibility that perceptions of neighborhood disorder encourage heavy drinking. Dr...

AIMS The aim of this work was to report on a heavy drinker whose azoospermia was reversed after alcohol withdrawal. We also review the literature on links between alcohol consumption and azoospermia. METHOD This study is a clinical case report and a literature review. RESULTS Two years after alcohol withdrawal, a child was born following assisted reproduction technique. Excessive alcohol co...

STUDY OBJECTIVE Previous work found no effect on birthweight of alcohol and caffeine consumption in non-smokers but such an effect was found in smokers. This report investigates further the effects on birthweight of alcohol and caffeine at three stages of pregnancy in smoking women. DESIGN This was a prospective population study. SETTING District general hospital in inner London. PARTICIP...

During the last trimester of pregnancy, 127 primiparous Irish mothers were interviewed to ascertain their history of alcohol and tobacco use. Confounding effects due to other drugs were not a factor in this sample. Mothers consumed an average of .21 ounces absolute alcohol (AA) per day, with 62% classified as moderate drinkers, 10.6% as heavy drinkers, and 26% as nondrinkers. Neurobehavioral st...

Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) is an aggressive B-cell malignancy with very high proliferation rate, more common in males than females. Here, we describe a case of Burkitt's lymphoma in a 24-week pregnant woman with cervical and abdominal involvement. The common genetic event of virtually all BL is a reciprocal chromosomal translocation involving the proto-oncogene MYC and one of the Ig gene heavy or ...

During an outbreak of Sendai virus infection in a colony of rats used for embryo production, severe lung lesions due to secondary colonization of the rat lungs with Pasteurella pneumotropica were noted. The effect on pregnancy was to cause embryonic death and resorption, leaving a deciduoma with trophoblastic giant cells as the only embryonic remnants. Up to 30% of fetuses in each pregnant anim...

Fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) in meconium are validated biomarkers of heavy fetal alcohol exposure that may potentially be used clinically for identifying children at risk for alcohol-related disabilities. However, until now, FAEEs have been largely used anonymously in epidemiological studies, and by child protection authorities in need for verification of heavy alcohol use in pregnancy. Here...

Chemical exposure during pregnancy is potentially harmful to the developing fetus, as the placenta cannot protect against heavy metals such as lead and mercury. Cord blood mercury levels have been associated with childhood cognitive function. High levels of lead exposure during pregnancy have been associated with adverse birth outcomes and, in some studies, with lower cognitive function test sc...

Expression of the protooncogene A-myb is restricted to the developing CNS, adult testes, breasts in late pregnancy, and germinal centers of secondary B cell follicles. The functional relevance of A-myb expression at three of these sites has been demonstrated previously via the generation and analysis of A-myb-deficient mice, which display behavioral abnormalities, male sterility, and perturbed ...