I Think Therefore I Blog: Alcohol in Fetus Development

Friday, October 12, 2012

Alcohol in Fetus Development

Alcohol is capable of cause birth defects. This capability classifies it medically as a teratogen. Alcohol is recognized as a leading teratogen to which the fetus is likely to be exposed!

Article

The article I read for this week focused on how even moderate alcohol consumption in expectant mothers can lead to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Fetal alcohol syndrome is when growth, mental, and physical problems that may occur in a baby when a mother drinks alcohol during pregnancy. Considering I haven't learned much about FAS in the past it was interesting to know that the reason there is an issue is because alcohol alters the mothers thyroid levels and thus alters the thyroid levels in the fetus. The enzyme covered in this study was Dio3, which affects thyroid activity. In the studies preformed with rats it was discovered that Dio3 was the biggest enzyme altered by alcohol. This is significant beacuse now researchers can try to find ways to reverse the damage done by the altered levels of Dio3. It will be interesting to see if this research goes anywhere...since FAS does affect many people.

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About this Blog

After completing my BA in European History and English Literature and Linguistics, and then living in Florence, Italy for a year (home of the European Renaissance) I had my own 'rebirth.' From my aspirations of becoming a Cultural Anthropologist, or even an Archaeologist, I decided another study of human beings was more fulfilling for me. A complete 180 degree change sprung about with a sudden desire and curiosity about the field of Science and Medicine.

How, one may ask, can a year of living In the Art capital of the world, in a society where structure and planing seem an absurdity, cause such a drastic transformation within a person, from Art to Science? Yet the two seeming distant disciplines are much more closely interwoven then most may firstly realize.

The 16th Century placed high value on the concept of the "Renaissance Man," someone who was a Maestro in every aspect of life. Philosophy guided Scientific thoughts and reasoning by trying to understand humanity- physically,through art and theologically, through questioning the purpose of existence- and were intertwined. Leonardo Da Vinci, the epitome of the Renaissance Man, is a prime example of this interdiciplinary connectedness. The Engineer, creating the first blueprints of a flying machine analogous to the many other war machinery, the Artist perfecting Realistic Art through chiaroscuro and perspective, the Philosopher pushing the concept of Humanism throughout out Europe, and the Anatomist dissecting human bodies and giving the world the first realistic drawings of the inner body.

And so this sudden shift in my journey through life, is not as random as it may first present to be.

This Blog is created for one of my Science pre requisite classes, as I prepare for my path towards Medical school, and will cover my interwoven thoughts and reflections on different topics pertaining to Developmental Biology. Of course, the inner philosopher and lover of art will be reflected throughout my provocations. But as I have shown, the gap between to two disciplines is not that large.

Enjoy!