(2/25/2013)

AAP Outlines Fetal Damage with Drug Abuse
MedPage Today
February 25, 2013

The effects of drugs on the developing fetus are wide-ranging and vary by substance and time of exposure, according to an American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) report published in Pediatrics.  Early in gestation, commonly-used substances such as nicotine, alcohol, marijuana, opiates, cocaine, and methamphetamines can have teratogenic effects, but later in pregnancy, they're more closely associated with brain development issues, wrote Marylou Behnke, MD, and Vincent Smith, MD, of the AAP Committee on Substance Abuse and Committee on Fetus and Newborn, in the technical report. The technical report looked at both the short- and long-term effects of maternal substance abuse on a developing fetus.

View the full article here: http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/GeneralPediatrics/37511

Keywords: AAP, fetal, damage, drug, abuse