I often hear families ask, “Doctor, is my child’s cleft lip and palate caused by the rabbit meat I ate when I was pregnant?” . Studies have concluded that the formation of cleft lip and palate may be related to the following causes: 1. Genetic factors: Some children have similar deformities in their immediate or collateral relatives. Unilateral cleft lip and palate has a 10% probability of inheritance, and bilateral cleft lip and palate has about 20% probability that the child can be inquired about a genetic history.
Infections and injuries: Mothers who have had viral infections such as influenza, rubella or some kind of injury in the early stages of pregnancy (around 2 months) may be the cause of cleft lip and palate.
3, The mother suffers from chronic diseases such as anemia, diabetes, severe nutritional disorders during pregnancy.
4.Taking certain medications during pregnancy, such as sedatives, anti-epileptic drugs and hormonal drugs, etc.
5, maternal exposure to high doses of X-rays during pregnancy.
6, nutritional factors in experimental animal studies found that mice lacking vitamin A, vitamin B and pantothenic acid, folic acid and other food components, can produce a variety of sigmoid deformities, including F cleft, and it is not clear whether the lack of such substances in humans can also lead to congenital cleft lip and palate deformities. However, some mothers who had children with cleft lip and palate have been investigated and some had significant deficiencies of calcium, phosphorus, iron, and vitamin B, vitamin C, and vitamin D in early pregnancy due to gestational vomiting or partial diet. Therefore, nutritional deficiency in early pregnancy may be one of the triggers for the onset of the disease.
7, drugs and chemical factors today’s human application of a large number of chemical substances, such as drugs, food additives, condiments, cosmetics, etc.; and human living environment, such as the atmosphere and water increasingly serious industrial pollution, are likely to affect the human living environment, damage human health, and more serious can induce human embryonic development malformations. At present, it is believed that the drugs related to the occurrence of congenital cleft lip and palate deformities include six major categories: hormones, antitussives, alkylating agents, antibiotics, vitamins and sedatives.
8, Infections and injury factors maternal rush of viral infections in the early stages of pregnancy may affect the development of the embryo and the occurrence of cleft lip and palate or cleft face deformity. It has been shown that the rubella virus can significantly lead to cleft lip and palate sigmoid. In addition, any injury to the mother during the early stages of pregnancy, especially those that can cause damage to the uterus and its vicinity, can affect the development of the embryo and become a possible cause of cleft lip and palate.
9. In the children we have treated, we have found that the chances of developing cleft lip and palate in the second child, especially when the mother is older, may be higher (not scientifically proven).
New trend: At present, not only our department but also many hospitals in China show that the proportion of children with complete cleft lip is decreasing, while the proportion of cryptoclipse and incomplete cleft lip is increasing. This may have an important correlation with the use of prenatal 4D ultrasound, and it is estimated that many children are being induced because they can be diagnosed very early in the prenatal period. This involves an important ethical, religious and a series of factors that will not be commented on. Personally, I think it is important for parents and the whole family and society to think and discuss whether children with cleft lip and palate detected prenatally should have the right to come into the world.