Modern Medicine And Natural Selection

The use of heroin, cocaine, and other illicit drugs has become a public health concern especially during pregnancy. Maternal substance abuse has become an issue during the crack epidemic in the 1980’s; however, there is an alarm rate of infants born addicted to heroin. More than 3.7% women have indicated the uses some form of illicit drugs during their pregnancy, as well as 1.9 % reports binge drinking (Bhuvaneswar el at., 2008; Grant el at., 2009). With this in mind, more than 375,000 infants are born to maternal substance abusers each year costing over $100,000 in medical expenses covered by the state (Reitman, 2002).

One of the largest examples of laws and policies put in place that reflect the ideas of Social Darwinism would include the pre-existing condition policy that Health Insurance companies put in place that prevent people from obtaining health insurance. This policy states that someone who is born with/ recently finds out they have a disease will not be allowed to gain health insurance from that company because it is a pre-existing condition before they applied to health insurance. Some of the conditions included are some of the most common, as well as the most deadly, condition in the U.S., such as diabetes.

Most women are unaware of the risks associated with taking prescription medications while pregnant. Usually the fear

Others, including myself, maintain that imprisoning these women is not the answer and also not very effective in the long term.

Through the years, substance misuse in the United States has turned into an industrious issue influencing numerous people. In 2008, it was assessed that 17.8 million Americans beyond 18 years old where substance subordinate. Women who use medications during pregnancy can have an enduring impact on fetal. Medications can have an impact of maternal and child wellbeing, yet there are a lot of different variables, which influence it, poor social environment, nourishment, cleanliness, and sexual abuse. Regenerative interruption connected with heroin utilization has been shown in both and women and even low dosages of opiates can impede ordinary ovarian capacity and ovulation. The harm that goes hand in hand with substance utilization comes either straightforwardly from the impact of the medication itself or from issues identified with development and/or unexpected labor. The entanglements of jumbling components clamorous way of life, poor nourishment, liquor utilization and cigarette smoking influence the appraisal of the impacts of cocaine in pregnancy. In obstetric practice, 100% of pregnant women utilizing cocaine or heroin are cigarette smokers. Cigarette smoking is presumably the most well known manifestation of substance utilizes and is noteworthy corresponding considering ladies who use unlawful medications. Babies whose moms smoked in pregnancy have a tendency to have lower conception weights and diminished length, cranial and thoracic

Advances in biotechnology have important applications to the core demographic concerns of human reproduction, raising a number of ethical issues. In the debate over this issue Kass the President’s council on Bioethics, with other scientist are nearly silent. In a critical discussion, Kass insists that producing and influencing babies in bottles is a gateway to a Brave New World. It is a way to maintain the population and keep the society from going into a revolution. However, in order maintain stability we must suppress all new scientific inventions along with artistic expression. Scientific research endangers humanity which can possibly threaten social order, which is why it must strictly be limited. Kass emphasizing on the technology itself

Morris, M., Seibold, C., & Webber, R. (2012, April). Drugs and having babies: An exploration of how a specialist clinic meets the needs of chemically dependent pregnant women. Midwifery, 28(2), 163-72. Retrieved from http://ebscohost.com.ezproxy.hsc.usf.edu/ehos

Hemochromatosis is a deadly disease in which the body believes that it never has enough iron. The body, as a result is that iron is not filtered out through the intestines, it is always entering the body. This iron runs out of places to be stored, and is spread throughout the body. These iron stores eventually end up changing the body and causing damage to major organs and joints. Hemochromatosis can lead to cancer, heart failure, and a plethora of other problems.

Even though there are many studies that highlight the damaging effects of maternal alcohol use on a fetus in utero, there are a multitude of other substances that are used by pregnant mothers that have similar and even, in some cases, more extreme repercussions such as marijuana, heroin, and cocaine. When speaking about pregnancy and drug use, the most common drug that comes to mind is alcohol. During 12 years of schooling, most people are exposed, at one point or another, to the idea of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and the detrimental effects of alcohol on a fetus in utero. The effects of maternal use of the aforementioned illicit drugs is less studied, partially because they are used less frequently. It is important, however, that as a population, we become more educated about these drugs and the potentially life threatening outcomes for babies in utero.

Substance abuse has been a worldwide problem at all levels of society since the beginning of time. Attention has been made toward the use of legal and illegal substance by pregnant women over the past several decades. Almost all drugs are known to cross the placenta and have some effect on the fetus. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (2013) the first studies of the effect of substances consumed by a pregnant women to the developing fetus were identified in the 1960’s of prenatal tobacco use. These studies opened the door to further research and studies. The effects of Alcohol and opiate use have been studied since the 1970’s (Jones, Smith, 1973) and the effects of a variety of other drugs have been studied since 1979 and early 1980’s (Flinnegan, 1979).

In this paper, the problem I will be addressing is substance use during pregnancy. This social issue has been ongoing for over 30 years. Policymakers have debated tirelessly on how to deal with the issue of prenatal exposure to controlled substances, while pregnant women have been prosecuted for using drugs during their pregnancy in a number of states since the late 1980’s (Dailard, Nash 2000). These women are usually prosecuted under child abuse statutes, even when the child has no apparent sign of physical harm. Presently, there is still no national consensus on this issue, leaving many women vulnerable to prosecution (Jessup, 2003). It is easy for us to want to criminalize

This newspaper article published by Daventry Express talks about the lack of information known about using cannabis and how it can affect women and their unborn babies. The authors had conducted a questionnaire to pregnant women asking them questions if they used cannabis during their pregnancy and how frequently they used. One issue with the questionnaire that the authors mention is the observational study is unable to determine if the pregnant women used other drugs or consumed alcohol. Their analysis showed that women who used cannabis were more likely to have an underweight newborn at birth

Before reading this essay, I had the mindset that doing cocaine or smoking marijuana is the worst substance for a fetus. However, in reality, nicotine and caffeine are actually worse. This is a misconception amongst society as a whole. With that being said, society has created “common norms” that put restrictions on what women who are pregnant can do while carrying. I will admit that I myself have given women dirty looks if I see them drinking a glass of wine. In reality, doctors say refrain from binge or heavy drinking.

Maternal substance abuse accounts for problematic health concerns in infants, according Forray (2016), “5.9% of pregnant women use illicit drugs, with usage age ranging from 15-44 years of age” (p.3).  Types of illicit substances used during pregnancy consist of Cocaine, Marijuana, Methamphetamine, Heroin, and an array of other illicit substances.  …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. For my immersion experience I choose to focus on the population of women who uses illicit drugs during pregnancy.

Pregnancy is a standard step in life for most people. Women dream of having children of their own that they can raise and take care of, but what some do not realize is how much vigilance is needed when one is carrying life inside of them. This country has loads of medications easily accessed by pregnant women that are not always safe for the baby, and some do not realize this. The fact is that 96.3% of pregnant women use over-the-counter medicine including things like prenatal vitamins that may or may not be harmful (Kline & Westberg, 2011). The reason that these medications are so easily mistaken as safe by pregnant women is because the medications may be safe for those that are not pregnant, but are not necessarily safe for those that are and it can be hard to find out which medicines to take and which to avoid. Also, even more frightening is that some vitamins may not be safe for the fetus. Pregnant women across the globe unknowingly use drugs that could cause harm to their babies, such as common over-the-counter drugs that people take every day and drugs that are prescribed by a physician as well as some types of vitamins that are not considered prenatal that women may take. Women need to be cautious when it comes to drug use during pregnancy.