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March 19th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda MONDAY, March 19 (HealthDay News) — Children exposed to
methamphetamine while in the womb face a higher risk of developing
behavior problems, a new study suggests.
These problems can include depression, anxiousness and
attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the researchers
report.
“This is the only study on methamphetamine that looked at children at
birth and followed them into childhood,” said study author Linda LaGasse,
a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at Brown University School of
Medicine.
Mothers’ prenatal use of methamphetamine, “over and above other bad
things that cause trouble with children, has an effect on behavior,”
LaGasse said.
The stimulant drug is thought to be even more potent than cocaine
because it lasts longer in the body, she explained. “Methamphetamine goes
right into the placenta and affects the brain,” she said.
The report appears online March 19 and in the April issue of
Pediatrics.
Dr. James C. Garbutt, professor and medical director of the Alcohol
Substance Abuse Program at the University of North Carolina, said
that “these data suggest that exposure to methamphetamine in utero might
lead to behavioral problems in children, and this is something that needs
to be noted and considered for future research.”
This information is another reason for women, and men, to avoid
methamphetamine, or, if addicted, to become sober, Garbutt said.
“Of course there are many other reasons not to use methamphetamine
including its serious consequences for physical and mental health and its
overall destructive power for individuals and their families,” he
added.
LaGasse’s team tested 166 children of mothers who used methamphetamine
during pregnancy, comparing them to 164 similar children who had not been
exposed to the drug.
To determine that results were truly related to methamphetamine use and
not other factors, the researchers took into account tobacco, alcohol and
marijuana use among both groups of mothers.
Researchers also looked at the extent of their mother’s methamphetamine
use, age and other environmental risk factors.
Children’s caregivers filled out a checklist that researchers used to
assess behavior when they were 3, and again at age 5.
At both assessments, “methamphetamine-exposed children were more
emotionally reactive, that is nervous and disturbed by change, as well as
anxious and depressed,” LaGasse said.
By age 5, these children also showed signs of ADHD and other acting-out
behaviors.
Moreover, children whose mothers were heavy methamphetamine users had
both types of problems at both evaluations.
Dr. Bruce Goldman, director of substance abuse services at Zucker
Hillside Hospital, part of the North Shore-LIJ Health System in Glen Oaks,
N.Y., commented on the study.
“The finding is not overly surprising,” he said. “It’s only
commonsensical that with women who are using methamphetamine through
pregnancy that there would be some long-term impact on their babies.”
That’s true with other drugs, he said.
“We need to reach out to women of childbearing age and help educate
them about the long-term consequences of the continued use of
methamphetamine during pregnancy,” Goldman said.
Children of drug abusers have a high lifetime risk of becoming
substance abusers themselves — as much as four times higher, he
added.
“The earlier intervention can start with these children, the better
chance of preventing these long-term consequences,” Goldman said.
Study author LaGasse agreed.
“You have children who are already vulnerable coming into a household
that may also be vulnerable and you see [that] by age 3, behavior is
getting off normal,” LaGasse said.
“These behaviors are worthy of addressing, especially in high-risk
families,” she said. “If nothing is done, these are some of the kids who
end up taking drugs as adolescents and having other problems. Parents and
teachers need to pay attention to these kids.”
More information
Nemours Foundation has more about children’s
behavior problems.
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