Data not showing
‘ice’ effect on fetuses
There is no hard evidence so far that babies exposed to crystal methamphetamine during pregnancy will suffer permanent damage, according to a University of Hawaii medical school researcher.
Dr. Chris Derauf, who is conducting a study in Hawaii on drug-exposed babies, said it may turn out that the effect of "ice" on the ability of parents to raise a child may be as important as the impact of the drug on a fetus during pregnancy.
"Ultimately, we may find we have to look holistically on the issue," Derauf said. He said doctors and policy-makers will have to look not only at prenatal care, but will also have to "pay a lot more attention to what happens after birth."
Derauf, who spoke yesterday at a hearing of the House-Senate Task Force on Ice and Drug Abatement, said there is some evidence that babies exposed to ice in the womb have more chance of being born slightly prematurely and with a smaller birth weight, but reports of other problems are just anecdotal so far.
He said that MRI images have shown no structural difference between the brains of babies exposed to crystal methamphetamine and babies who are not exposed.
He emphasized that does not mean it is OK for mothers to use ice during pregnancy.
Derauf, a pediatrician at Kapiolani Medical Center and an assistant professor at the UH John A. Burns School of Medicine, cautioned that more research is needed before drawing conclusions about the effect of ice on children.
He compared early fears of damage to babies exposed to ice with reports of long-term damage to cocaine or "crack babies" in the 1980s and 1990s.
"Everyone wants to know that a drug like cocaine has negative effects on childhood," Derauf said.
However, more in-depth studies did not back up initial fears of a generation of cocaine-damaged babies, he said.
Derauf estimated that 1 to 3 percent of the 17,000 live births in Hawaii, or about 170 to 510 babies born each year, are exposed to ice during pregnancy.
Damage to infants from alcohol and smoking is well documented, Derauf said. However, only one study in Sweden has been done on babies exposed to crystal methamphetamine, and it did not involve a control group that was not exposed to drugs.
Derauf's Hawaii research is part of a national study under the direction of Brown University. He hopes to look at the impact of environment, genetics and other factors in addition to drug exposure on the development of infants.
He said it is important to look at "what it (ice) is doing to the home environment and the mother's ability to attend to her child."
