Week 2 Teratogens

Teratogen is an agent, which can cause a birth defect.  

I found this topic interesting because the book focuses on drugs, diseases, and environmental hazards, but I don't think enough attention is brought to foods that we eat that can also cause teratogen effects. Nutrition is very important while being pregnant and feel that it’s important for a woman that is expecting to also beware to avoid certain foods. These foods include:

•  Certain artificial sweeteners- This is found in so many of the foods we consume such as diet soda, yogurt, and even salad dressing.
• Unpasteurized fruit and vegetable juices- They could contain bacteria that is very harmful to a pregnant woman and her fetus. 
•   Deli meats- It contains MSG which is a neurotoxin.

During my two pregnancies I knew to avoid alcohol, tobacco, and cleaning the litter box. I feel like that is common sense, but was unaware of a lot of the other known teratogens. That’s why I think it would be important for doctors to provide more information to an expecting mother. Not once did my doctors ever go over the list of stuff for me to avoid. I knew basic things for example the doctor said to take Tylenol. So I did but it wasn’t in till I was reading this chapter that I found out aspirin can potentially cause deficits in intelligence, attention, and motor skills. In conclusion I feel that doctors need to provide more information on teratogens, and I also feel that more research needs to be done on the foods that we eat that could potential cause teratogen effects on a fetus.