Having a healthy baby is every parent’s dream, but the dream needs to be realized through action. The first step to giving birth to a healthy baby is a complete prenatal check-up.
Pre-pregnancy check-up is different from routine physical check-up, mainly focusing on the reproductive system and genetic factors. Pre-pregnancy check-up is best done 3 to 6 months before pregnancy, and it is generally recommended to have a check-up 6 months before pregnancy. If one party is in poor health, they can still receive treatment without causing too much pressure. People often have a misunderstanding that as long as the mother-to-be undergoes a check-up, the father-to-be does not need to. As everyone knows, diseases such as azoospermia do not necessarily cause discomfort. As we all know, a healthy baby must first be the result of the union of healthy sperm and eggs. Therefore, pre-pregnancy check-ups for men are just as important as for women and should be done at the same time.
A person\’s health or disease is largely related to the genetics of his parents. However, the responsibilities of parents\’ genes for specific diseases are not the same. Past research has revealed that many diseases are related to the mother\’s genes. For example, the older the mother is (over 35 years old), the greater the probability of genetic mutations, and the greater the likelihood that her children will suffer from Down syndrome (congenital stupidity). big.
However, in the past, few people paid attention to which genes of the father would pose risks to the child. Statistics show that one in every 88 children has autism, and the incidence of autism in boys is more than five times that of girls. Research also shows that diseases like autism are mainly related to paternal inheritance.
In fact, not only the older the mother, the greater the probability of genetic mutation, but also the father. Australian researchers have found that older male mice develop multiple genetic mutations linked to developmental abnormalities, which may explain why children with older fathers are more likely to develop diseases such as autism and schizophrenia. .
American researchers conducted whole-genome sequencing on 10 pairs of identical twins with autism and their normal parents. The results showed that if the father is older, such as over 40 years old, the child will have higher germline mutations derived from the father, but there is little relationship between the mother\’s age and germline mutations. Moreover, germline mutations are clearly higher than the average mutation rate in the human genome. Also, the genes for some neurological disorders, such as autism, are more variable than the average gene.
A survey of the genotypes of more than 38,000 Icelanders conducted by Icelandic scientists showed that in addition to autism, some genes related to cancer and diabetes are derived from the paternal line. In the past, it was found that breast cancer-relatedOne gene, one gene related to basal cell carcinoma, and three genes related to type 2 diabetes, a total of five genes, all come from the father\’s side.
British and Swedish researchers studied 2.3 million people in Sweden born between 1950 and 1970. The diseases studied on these people included schizophrenia, autism, mania, and depression. disorders, anorexia nervosa, substance abuse and addiction. The researchers compared their fertility with that of their unaffected siblings and the general population, and assessed the probability that the disease-causing genes would be passed on to offspring. Research has found that, regardless of gender, if a person suffers from any of the above diseases, it means that their family has the disease-causing gene, so the fertility rate of their brothers and sisters will also be affected, but the disease-causing gene has a negative impact on male fertility. The impact is obviously greater than for women. For example, sisters of patients with schizophrenia and mania have significantly increased fertility, but brothers of patients with schizophrenia and autism show significantly reduced fertility.
However, there are also relevant studies proving that although autism is mainly caused by paternal inheritance, through prevention and treatment, the occurrence of this type of disease can be cured and reduced in the future.
Therefore, prenatal examination is not only something that expectant mothers should do, but expectant fathers are also an important subject of examination. At the same time, if there are obvious genetic patients in the family, including incest among immediate relatives, you must take the initiative to tell the doctor, and the doctor will give reasonable suggestions. Of course, some parents behave like normal people, but are carriers of a certain genetic disease gene. Although they do not have the disease themselves, they are likely to pass the genetic disease to their next generation, and he (she) and Her (his) family did not know. For many recessive genetic diseases, such as congenital deafness and muteness, albinism, etc., even if you tell the doctor your genetic history, there is no guarantee that pre-pregnancy examinations will be able to detect all genetic diseases, because unless there are special genetic diseases, pre-pregnancy examinations and prenatal screening Generally, we do not perform genetic comparative screening. Then pre-pregnancy screening is particularly important at this time.
This article is provided by Baidu Reading. It is excerpted from \”Very Good Pregnancy: You Can Get Pregnant by Doing This\” Author: Yu Yue\’e