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LSI) thalidomide conic to rrrind immediately when we think of drills which may cause birth defects. But more and more scientists are equally suspicious of the commonplace medications found in the family medicine chest.
Even simple remedies such as aspirin are under investigation So are vitamins in excesswve doses, nose drops and many other over-the-counter medicines
Some expert? fear that overemphasis on the dramatically dangerous drugs overshadows a far more important fact until Scientists understand more cWarly how chemicals affect the child m the womb, all drugs are suspect
A "terminology gap" in the popular definition of drugs has clouded this important point, according to Dr Virginia Apgar, vice president for medical affairs of The National Foundation-March of Dimes
"The word drugs' has come to mean only the addicting narcotics and barbiturates, or the nund-expanding marijuana, LSD and 'speed ' Bur the truth is that drugs include the whole range of chemicals human beings may take in the form of pills, powders, capsules, injections, mhalents or by absorption through the skm." Dr Apgar says
One reason for increased suspicion of all drugs is the relatively recent medical awareness tljat the womb is not a perfectly safe haven Physicians once thought it to be completely protected by the placenta, preventing harmful agents from being passed by the mother to the unborn child Today, doctors who used to speak confidently of the "placental barrier" as an impervious, natural protective agent, know that the theory and the barrier are full of holes
In its prenatal care literature, The National Foundation-March of Dimes, which entered the field of birth defects after the conquest of polio, warns all women of childbearing age against selfmedicaLon, home remedies, and "borrowing” p4Ja from friends and relatives. Even prescription drugs normally taken without ill ef
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