Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-07-14
By CHARLES G. BROOKS

BY CHARLES G. BROOKS
The prenatal period of life.
shrouded by mystery and myth
from the beginning Of man, is
being quietly unveiled by SCI
entists at the National Insti-
tute Of Neurological Diseases
and Blindness as the source Of
many neurological catastro-
phies.
Mounting evidence suggests
that the period from one month
after conception to about one
month after birth holds the
key to many diseases such as
cerebral palsy, mental retarda-
ton and other troubles.
But, DR.. Pearce Bailey. direc-
tor Of the institute in Bethesda,
declared, Until recently. rela-
lively little research has been
directed to this early period OF
human development.
For centuries. an aura OF
superstition and mysticism has
surrounded what happens in
the depths of the pregnant
woman, and this apparently
has had some dampening eff
feet on research in this direc-
ton.
Even in basic research, the
literature until last year con-
tanned only IL reports on pre-
natal experimental studies in
animals, and all those were in
small animals. There were no
studies Of any consequence on
primates at all"
Research Program Begun
Because of this, the Institute
has started on a broad program
which will eventually involve
is major medical centers
throughout the country to
study and observe biological
factors brought to bear during
the prenatal phase. In con-
junction with this program, the
institute has acquired a large
colony of primates in Puerto
Rico - these animals being
physiologically similar to man.
kind in many respects.
IT believe" said DR.. Bailey,
"that this program, if success
fully prosecuted, will bring
about effective measures for
prevention and treatment OF
cerebral palsy and other dis
orders at least 20 to so years
sooner than if we pursued only
our previous course Of piecemeal
and isolated project research"
Among every 1000 pregnant
women, an estimated 65 Will
have stillbirths. 10 will have
live-born premature infants,
three will have children die a
week after birth and seven
within the period of a week to
o year after birth.
But, about Is of every 1000
births will live on for years
with serious disabilities such as
cerebral palsy, mental retarda-
ton, epilepsy. deafness or blind
ness.
Why?
Known Factors
Some things are known:
/. Blood incompatibility be-
tween the mother and the fetus
can cause kernicterus. a malig-
nant form of cerebral palsy.
Early blood transfusions can
partially prevent and treat this.
q scientist working for the in
stitute found last year.
2. German measles. syphilis
and toxoplasmosis in the preg-
nant woman can cause prenatal
casualties.
3. Lack Of oxygen before and
during birth, radiation, vascular
disease and injury may be re-
sponsible.
Not much more is known yet.
There are over 200 neuro-
logical diseases including vari-
Gus forms of blindness. many
of which may date back to
happenings in the mysterious
prenatal period of life. So far
more than Sis million has
been granted to IL medical re-
search institutions for investi-
cation into the prenatal period.
Major Diseases
Although there are many
neurological diseases a few of
the major ones include:
Cerebral palsy. This is a