health
Unfortunately, research shows that fentanyl’s next victims are newborns.
At least 10 babies, and possibly more than 12, are believed to have birth defects related to exposure to fentanyl in the womb. NBC reported.
The survey results are Published in Genetics in Medicine Open, said six infants were confirmed at Nemours Children’s Health Facility in Wilmington, Delaware. Two in California. One is in Rhode Island and his other one is in Massachusetts.
The babies suffer from physical defects such as cleft palates, abnormally small bodies and heads, droopy eyelids, upturned noses, and small lower jaws.
Additionally, their feet point downward and inward, and two of their toes are webbed. Geneticists said they have ruled out a genetic cause, specifically a genetic mutation called Smith-Lemmli optic.
What the babies had in common was that their mothers admitted to using street drugs, including fentanyl.
Researchers at Nemours Children’s Hospital who wrote the study said, “Prenatal fentanyl exposure was common in each pregnancy, although no common genetic or genomic abnormalities were identified.”
Although the baby did not have the Smith-Lemle optic variant, the baby’s defects were similar to the variant.
Nemours geneticist Dr. Karen Gripp and genetic counselor Erin Wadman believe that fentanyl may be interfering with cholesterol metabolism during pregnancy.
“Although the effects of fentanyl on cholesterol metabolism have not been directly tested, based on indirect evidence, it is biologically plausible that fentanyl affects cholesterol metabolism in the developing fetus,” the authors wrote. Ta.
The newborn tested positive for fentanyl at birth and was most likely exposed to fentanyl during pregnancy.
Wadman was able to link all pregnancies to possible fentanyl exposure after seeing a baby with the birth defect in August 2022 and remembering other patients she had seen. .
“I was sitting there at the appointment, and I thought, ‘This face looks familiar.'” This story is very nostalgic. ‘And I was just thinking about how this patient reminded me so much of a patient I saw earlier this year and other patients I’ve seen since then,” Wadman told NBC.
“That’s when I thought we might have stumbled upon something really big here.”
However, they have not yet confirmed their findings. Wadman said it’s possible that the fentanyl was laced with something else that caused the defect, or that his mother and others were also taking other street drugs.
Even Zika, a mosquito-borne disease, can cause some defects, such as smaller heads, but there is no evidence to suggest that Zika played any role.
Researchers think they’ve figured something out, but more research is still needed.
Experts at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha think they may soon be able to confirm the fentanyl theory.
Dr. Karoly Milnicus, director of the Munro-Meyer Institute at UNMC, studies the effects of certain drugs on cholesterol metabolism. She plans to examine the blood of infants identified in Nemours’ research.
Fentanyl has been linked to an alarming increase in overdose deaths, whether or not it causes birth defects.
Powerful opioid painkillers are suspected of causing 70,601 overdose deaths in 2021. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
“Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever encountered. Fentanyl is everywhere. From metropolitan areas to rural America, no area is safe from this poison.” Bureau of Enforcement Commissioner Ann Milgram stated on the DEA website.
“We must take every opportunity to disseminate information to prevent fentanyl-related overdose deaths and poisonings from claiming the lives of thousands of Americans every day.”
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