Posted on 04/16/2009 1:20:30 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Methamphetamine use during pregnancy appears to cause abnormal brain development in children, U.S. researchers said.
Study author Dr. Linda Chang of the University of Hawaii at Manoa and colleagues used brain scans on 29 3- and 4-year-old children whose mothers used methamphetamine while pregnant and 37 unexposed children of the same ages.
The MRI scans used diffusion tensor imaging to help measure the diffusion of molecules in a child's brain, which can indicate abnormal microscopic brain structures that might reflect abnormal brain development.
The study, published online in the journal Neurologyscans, showed that children with prenatal methamphetamine exposure had differences in the white matter structure and maturation of their brains compared to unexposed children. The children with prenatal methamphetamine exposure had up to 4 percent lower diffusion of molecules in the white matter of their brains.
"Our findings suggest prenatal meth exposure accelerates brain development in an abnormal pattern," Chang said in a statement. "Such abnormal brain development may explain why some children with prenatal meth exposure reach developmental milestones later than others."
Well, duh?
* Enter Captain Obvious, stage left*
ya think???
do they have to do research to figure out that, that $h!t will screw up fetuses??????
Crystal meth makes crack cocaine look by baby pablum. That stuff is one of the most dangerous things I have ever seen, It is instructive to note that ADD drugs are meth derivatives.
I could have figured this out without a study.
As obvious as alcohol use during pregnancy.
Really? They actually researched this? These geniuses went to college to do a study on the affects of meth on a developing fetus.
“Well, duh? You beat me to it. I’ve had the misfortune to run into some tweakers. Completely fried brains. Meth is pure poison.
Really? Wow, who’da thunk?!?
Ditto, post-natal meth.
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