By Harold Buttram, M.D.
PART II
Reproductive statistics in the United States reflect the increasing unfavorable outcomes of pregnancies and the deteriorating health in today's children. One out of five pregnancies ends in miscarriage. One quarter of a million babies were born with a birth defect in 1984. Many children are born prematurely and small for their gestational age. One out of ten women have a great deal of difficulty in conceiving or are unable to conceive at all.
Last month's Journal addressed the risks couples face, suggested solutions, and the future of preconception care in America. Part II will address some of the reasons we are experiencing the increase in these health problems, and the role Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation will play in creating a change.
WHY HAVE THESE PROBLEMS INCREASED IN OUR SOCIETY?
Before corrective action can be taken, the causes of increasing health problems must first be recognized and defined. Possible causes, it must be admitted, are at present partly theoretical and unproven, but almost every scientific advance of the past began with a mental concept or theory. One prominent example was that of Albert Einstein, whose theories laid the foundation for our modern atomic age. Einstein developed his theories, by purely mental processes, many years before they were scientifically documented. By the same token, our work with the present issue must begin, at least in part, with theories.
Allowing for some areas of controversy, there is a growing consensus among scientists and physicians that causes for unfavorable outcomes of pregnancy may be found in the following areas:
- Toxic environmental chemicals
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Allergies
- Infectious diseases
- Intestinal malabsorption
- Alcohol, tobacco, and street drugs
- Prescription drugs
Each of these will be considered briefly.
TOXIC ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICALS
It is now known that the toxic heavy metals, lead and cadmium, can cause brain damage, even at relatively low levels, to the developing fetus during pregnancy and to the child. Recent studies have also implicated aluminum as causing learning disabilities in children. Though less well documented, copper is also suspect in this regard, (Copper is commonly used in household plumbing so that excesses may be consumed in drinking water.)
Perhaps of greater concern on the modern scene are three classes of environmental toxins commonly found in the modern home. These are: (1) formaldehyde, commonly used in household building materials and fixtures, (2) volatile solvent fumes, coming from many sources, including paints and varnishes, and (3) certain classes of pesticides.
Each of these substances can come into the body by breathing fumes in the air or by direct contact with the skin. Each is lipophilic; that is, it has an affinity for the lipid (fatty) tissues of the body, including the brain and nervous system and the cell membranes. Tagged isotope studies have shown that 80% of formaldehyde goes to the brain, where it may cause damage to nuclei of cells.
Regarding the organic solvent fumes, Dr. Ruth Lilis, a professor of environmental and occupational medicine at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York, has sounded a warning about the growing use of organic solvents in industry and consumer products. Studies conducted or quoted by Dr. Lilis have shown personality changes, mental deficits, and abnormal electroencephalographic brain waves in adults subjected to long-term solvent fume exposure.
Regarding pesticides, Frank Duffy, working at the Department of Neurology, Harvard University, demonstrated abnormal electroencephalographic changes in humans persisting for over a year following organophosphate pesticide exposures.
If such untoward effects have been demonstrated in adults, we can assume that the dangers to children or to the developing fetus during pregnancy are many times greater. It is a well-known scientific fact that rapidly dividing cells are far more subject to toxic effects of chemicals. In adults, only the cells of the bone marrow and gastrointestinal tract are rapidly dividing, whereas in the developing fetus during pregnancy and young children, all cells are growing and dividing, making children far more susceptible to environmental toxins than adults.
No one knows at this point the extent to which environmental toxins are contributing to the increasing incidence of brain-damaged children, but there is every reason to suspect that it must be substantial.
In addition to possible brain damage, well-documented work of Drs. William Rea and John Laseter of Dallas has shown that these toxins (formaldehyde, solvent fumes, and pesticides) can be potent in damaging the immune system.
NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES
The common American diet of today is often deficient in vital nutrients due to a combination of factors including poor choices and combination of foods, commercial processing and devitalizing of foods, and farming methods which utilize chemical fertilizers.
Concerning the latter, it is highly probable that future strides will show conclusively that foods grown with the best modern “organic” methods will be superior to those grown with ordinary farming procedures. Not only do organic foods taste better but they are far richer in essential trace elements.
It is not possible to deal with all of the parameters of nutrition here and its relation to problems of conception and pregnancy except in a general fashion. Some of the more important work in this area has been done by Donald Oberleas, now at the Department of Food and Nutrition, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas and Lucille Hurley at the University of California. Studies done by these workers involving deficiencies of a wide range of nutrient trace minerals in rats and mice have shown reduced intelligence and developmental failures which can be equated with behavioral patterns in autistic children.
Perhaps some of the most cogent quotations concerning the importance of nutrition during the periods of conception and pregnancy were those of Mrs. Isobel Jennings, a pathologist who worked on nutrition and disease at University College, Cambridge, England, in a book, Vitamins in Endocrine Metabolism. In this book she described how anomalies in experimental animals could be eliminated or reproduced at will by dietary manipulations. Anomalies were produced by paucities of various B vitamins, vitamins A, D, and E, and the essential fatty acids, in the book she wrote:
“It is known, of course, that virus infections, irradiation and chemical teratogens such as thalidomide cause a variety of congenital defects, but such cases form a small fraction of the total of fetal abnormalities, and it seems that much more could be done in the field of preventive medicine to cut down the large numbers of preventable congenital defects. In human fetal development most abnormalities are established by the eight to the tenth week of gestation. This means, of course, that the most important period for nutritional care appears in the few weeks before and immediately after conception. This is not usually the time when diet is considered important.”
ALLERGIES
Work begun by Dr. Francis Pottenger, Jr. and Dr. Weston Price and continued by Dr. Granville Knight at the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation showed that allergic syndromes of the upper respiratory tract and of the skin can be produced in experimental animals by feeding cooked and processed foods; and eliminated in succeeding generations by the use of foods containing the full compliment of vitamins and minerals found in their natural diets.
Dr. Vera Walker, former president of the British Association of Allergists, in a pilot study involving 93 pregnancies, found that desensitization in the early stages of pregnancy reduced the number of allergic children by 80%.
Studies done at San Diego have shown that the identification and elimination and/or reduction of offending allergenic foods during pregnancy significantly reduced allergies in the children.
INFECTIOUS DISEASE
At the present time the sexually transmitted diseases comprise a major concern as a hazard for pregnancy. Chief among these is Chlamydia trachomatis infection, of which there are three or four million reported cases each year in the U.S. Because the infection often causes no symptoms, it may go unnoticed and, if untreated, may lead to severe tubal damage, pelvic inflammatory disease, and ectopic pregnancies. A comprehensive care program should include a screening for Chlamydia infection as well as other sexually transmitted diseases.
INTESTINAL MALABSORPTION
Digestive malabsorption appears to be a fairly common condition. Since it interferes with the assimilation of nutrients, it should be of vital concern during the periods of conception and pregnancy. Ideally, screening tests should be done for all couples prior to conception, but at the least they should be done in husband or wife when there are digestive symptoms.
Milk intolerance and severe wheat allergy (the latter called celiac disease) are common causes of malabsorption. Another possible cause is an adverse change in bowel flora (micro-organisms). By way of explanation, the human intestinal tract might be thought of as a garden with myriads of micro-organisms, many of which are essential from life and health, aiding in digestion of food and producing some essential vitamins. As a garden may contain weeds, the intestinal tract also contains potentially harmful organisms or pathogens.
As originally described by Dr. Orian Truss of Alabama, today's heavy dependence on antibiotics by our medical system almost always brings about adverse changes in bowel flora, killing off many of the beneficial organisms and allowing Candida albicans. This proliferation of pathogens, in turn, may result in an inflammatory condition in the bowel, which may cause impairments in digestion with reduced assimilation of nutrients as well as increased toxic and allergic burden on the system.
Although this concept remains somewhat controversial, it is increasingly accepted in the professional world as a prevalent condition. When this condition (now referred to as the Candida-related syndrome) is present, it should be addressed before the conception and pregnancy, before the newborn is affected.
ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, AND STREET DRUGS
The adverse effects of these substances are well known. Little further needs to be said about them here except that their potentially harmful effects on the pre-conceptual period have had little consideration.
PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
Conscientious obstetricians generally try to avoid most prescription drugs, unless absolutely necessary, during the first trimester of pregnancy, because of the potential for causing fetal malformations. However, like most other factors listed above, they are given little consideration during the three or so months before pregnancy, when the sperm and/or ova may be equally susceptible to damage.
Note: This article is not intended as a scientific review, and for this reason references have been omitted. For those desiring documentation of statements made herein, Dr. Buttram's references are available and will be provided upon written request and SASE. Write to: PPNF, PO Box 2614, La Mesa, CA 91943-2614.
PPNF recommended reading:
For Tomorrow's Children: A Manual For Future Parents.
This book outlines a program by which parents-to be may improve their health to produce mentally and physically healthy offspring. This program is based on the premise that most of the problems related to birth defects and infant mortality can be avoided if both parents make proper preparation prior to conception. Topics include: nutrition, vitamins and minerals, allergies, environmental hazards, contraception and prenatal influences. This advice applies to any and all ages.
To purchase CLICK HERE
Another book that is GREAT for parents who don't have time to read ALL our books yet it has lots of important information that every parent should know about - all in ONE book is:
The Truth About Children's Health: A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding, Preventing, and Reversing Disease.
To purchase CLICK HERE:
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