[Health Science] Screening and prevention of birth defects

September 12, 2022 is the 18th "China Prevention Flax Day". The theme of this year's event is "Preventing birth defects and promoting childbearing health."

What is birth defect?

"Birth defects", that is, the "congenital malformations" mentioned in popular, refer to abnormal body structure, function or metabolic abnormalities that occur before the baby is born. Birth defects can be caused by genetic factors or environmental factors such as chromosomal distortion, gene mutations, etc., or interacting with these two factors or other unknown reasons. It usually includes congenital malformations, chromosomal abnormalities, genetic metabolic diseases, and abnormal function (such as blindness such as blindness , Deaf and intellectual disorders, etc.).

What are the common reasons?

1. Genetic factors: Parents' abnormal genetic genetic or reproductive cell mutations may cause birth defects. Including diseases caused by genetic mutations, number of chromosomes, and abnormal structures.

2. Mother's nutritional factors. Nutritional imbalance during pregnancy can lead to increased risk of birth defects and affect the development of various organs of the fetus. For example, folic acid deficiency during pregnancy is a high -risk factors that cause nerve tube defects and iodine deficiency during pregnancy.

3. Parental factors. Bad life behavior (smoking, alcoholism, drug abuse, etc.), exposure (rubella virus, giant cell virus, bowworm and other pathogens), disease during pregnancy (gestational diabetes, etc.), and unreasonable medication (mental drugs, hormones), contact with contact Poison (formaldehyde, lead, mercury, etc.) and radioactive substances will significantly increase the risk of birth defects.

How to reduce birth defects? The key is prevention!

At present, China has established a "three -level prevention system for birth defects"

First -level prevention is to prevent defects.

Specific measures include: actively conduct a marriage check, conduct pre -pregnancy examinations for pregnancy before 4 to 6 months of pregnancy; avoid marriage and age of close relatives and age; vaccination of rubella vaccines in the first 3 months of pregnancy; stay away from drugs, quit smoking, and abstain from alcohol; women should avoid harmful substances; before pregnancy Folic acid is supplemented in 3 months to 3 months after pregnancy; timely discovery and treatment of diseases such as diabetes in the early pregnancy;

The second -level prevention is designed to reduce the birth of birth defects. It refers to pre -delivery screening, prenatal diagnosis, and health care for maternal health, including early pregnancy, mid -term pregnant women's blood biochemical indicators, chromosomal abnormalities, and NTD screening; about 20 weeks of pregnancy; about 20 weeks of pregnancy Making ultrasonic malformation screening, etc.

Three -level prevention aims to improve the quality of life and promote health in children. It refers to the screening of newborns and children's system, including common innate defect screening for newborns, and timely discovery and intervention.

Preventing birth defects, I am healthy!

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