Prenatal diagnosis of genetic abnormalities

The epitome of family love and life itself is having a child . A being completely having split characteristics of both the mother and the father , is being housed inside its own planet , the mother 's uterus There is nothing more perfect and complete than seeing this offspring that the mother and father took care of for nine months go out in the world and say hello to life . God graces us with such beauty , and to also serve as a means to keep the species alive . However , there are inevitable circumstances , which albeit

we terribly do not want it to happen , happen without us knowing it . Sometimes , a child is born with a genetic defect . A defect that hampers the child 's growth and development , a hindrance to one 's optimal level of well-being , a sign of abnormality . We do not want this , even if we are passionate about life preservation , our hearts cannot take the sorrow seen in the parent 's eyes . We know that science can do something about it . Hence , the wonderful physicians and medical researchers came up with prenatal diagnostic testing . Advancement in medical technology is enabling us to test for certain diseases or anomalies like PKU , trisomy 21 or Down 's Syndrome , among many others , even when the child is still inside the mother 's womb as a fetus . But the tests have its price , which is why most physicians would first weigh the risks and the benefits before conducting these prenatal diagnostic tests for genetic abnormalities

Genetic abnormalities are a result of gene alterations or chromosomal abnormalities , according to Bullock (Bullock , 2000 . Because of the recent discoveries in genetics , these diss , some of them at least can be detected at certain fetal ages . The alpha-fetal protein test is a test for neural tube defects (Kaplan , 2007 . Neural tube defects are birth defects of the brain and the spinal cord examples include spina bifida and anencephaly (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development , 2008 . Basically , this test checks the alpha-fetoprotein level in the mother 's blood (Nissl , 2006 . High alpha-fetoprotein levels indicate an abnormality . This test is done when the fetal age is about 16 to 18 weeks , and there is a high incidence of false-positives (Kaplan , 2007 . Another prenatal test is called the chorionic villus sampling . Usually performed between 10 to 12 weeks of pregnancy chorionic villus sampling is done by taking a sample of a part of the chorionic villi (The Merck Manuals , 2003 . This test can determine the presence of sickle-cell anemia , PKU , Down 's syndrome , Ducheme muscular dystrophy , among many others (Kaplan , 2007 . Amniocentesis , a procedure wherein a needle is used to obtain a sample of amniotic fluid , is usually done at 16 weeks of pregnancy to determine genetic diss and at 30 weeks to determine lung maturity (Kaplan , 2007

These prenatal diagnostic tests are indeed important to prevent and detect certain genetic abnormalities . The early detection and prevention of these guarantee relief and a worry free pregnancy . Pregnancy causes...