Hanan Ali, seven days old and weighing 2 kilos, was born premature with birth defects at the Al Alwya Pediatric hospital in this November 15, 2003 file photo from Baghdad, Iraq. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)
March 25, 2013
The Iraq War may be over, but the casualties continue for Iraqi couples trying to have children without life-threatening birth defects.
An apparent rise in Iraqi birth defects has left parents, doctors and researchers scrambling for answers – and wondering whether there's a link between the war and babies born with deformities that often render them unable to survive until their first birthday.
"They [parents] feel desperate," Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, a reproductive toxicologist who used to work at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, told ABCNews.com. She traveled to Iraq's Fallujah General Hospital in 2010 to research the birth defects and co-authored studies in 2010 and 2012. "One major problem we had was that there weren't enough families who had normal children, and therefore we ended up with fewer normal family studies."
Savabieasfahani and her colleagues concluded that many Iraqi babies were born with congenital heart defects, spina bifida and other deformities because their parents had high levels of lead, mercury and uranium levels in their hair, nails and teeth. They suggested that the toxins came from airborne pollutants released during the Iraq War.
"Toxic metals such as mercury (Hg) and Pb [lead] are an integral part of war ammunition and are extensively used in the making of bullets and bombs," it says in the results section of the study.
However, the U.S. Department of Defense believes the evidence is insufficient to determine whether war pollutants caused a rise in birth defects, said department spokeswoman Cynthia Smith. For example, researchers did not account for whether mothers had adequate nutrition or access to medical care during pregnancy, and they did not always consider whether the parents were cousins, she said.
"The studies have instead relied on the occurrence of conflict during specified years, and then presumed exposure of individuals to specific munitions," Smith told ABCNews.com. "The studies have also presumed specific health effects from the claimed exposures without benefit of any scientific evidence proving the association of health effects with those exposures."
Savabieasfahani collected tissue samples from 56 families at Fallujah General Hospital to see whether parents of babies with birth defects had more lead and mercury in their bodies than parents of babies without birth defects. Savabieasfahani's co-author, Dr. Muhsin Al-Sabbak, collected similar data for 28 families at the Al Basrah Maternity Hospital, where he is a gynecologist and obstetrician.
They concluded that parents of children with birth defects had higher levels of lead, mercury and uranium than parents of normal children.
Savabieasfahani also wrote in her 2010 study that birth defects were present in 15 percent of all Fallujah births. (They make up 3 percent of births in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)
However, the Federal Ministry of Health of Iraq and the World Health Organization have yet to release their joint study exploring the prevalence of birth defects in Iraq. Its results are expected to be published this spring. The study is a response to smaller, independent studies about birth defects, and an increased number of birth defect reports submitted to the ministry, according to the World Health Organization's website.
Savabieasfahani said it was sometimes difficult to persuade parents to participate in her study because birth defects are a source of shame in Fallujah. As such, she thinks birth defects and miscarriages may be underestimated.
Al-Sabbak, who is based in Basrah, Iraq, told ABCNews.com he is sure that more of his patients have either given birth to babies with multiple birth defects or suffered multiple miscarriages, and that many of them lived in areas where they would have been exposed to pollution from the war.
One of Al-Sabbak's patients had 19 miscarriages, Savabieasfahani said.
"They're actually asking whether they should stop conceiving," Al-Sabbak said. "They do ask me, 'What am I going to do?' I don't have the answer."
For me this makes the story I heard Sunday even more meaningful.
I have lost some dear friends to Agent Orange. Birth defects, the legacy continues.
What can we say War and Hate we all know too well. Our lives touched by them.
For me this does not mean I will not allow myself to feel and share the good
when it comes around, as I did with this story.
It makes the fight against the bad none the less of course.
For me this makes the story I heard Sunday even more meaningful.
I have lost some dear friends to Agent Orange. Birth defects, the legacy continues.
What can we say War and Hate we all know too well. Our lives touched by them.
For me this does not mean I will not allow myself to feel and share the good
when it comes around, as I did with this story.
It makes the fight against the bad none the less of course.
well carry on then.
remember, this is not about YOU or how you FEEL. this is about what we have done to the iraqi people.
serious question, what GOOD has come out of the invasion of iraq?
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
For me this makes the story I heard Sunday even more meaningful.
I have lost some dear friends to Agent Orange. Birth defects, the legacy continues.
What can we say War and Hate we all know too well. Our lives touched by them.
For me this does not mean I will not allow myself to feel and share the good
when it comes around, as I did with this story.
It makes the fight against the bad none the less of course.
well carry on then.
remember, this is not about YOU or how you FEEL. this is about what we have done to the iraqi people.
serious question, what GOOD has come out of the invasion of iraq?
It is so damned ridiculous that the US blew up Iraq, that all I can think of is that we had bombs we wanted to get rid of to make room for the newer/bigger stuff, and they wanted some real life/live training for our troops.
Also, I think it's made the american people question their trust in idiotic leaders such as Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, etc.. Might still be why many dont trust the republicans. They had a war-first attitude that cost us 7 trillion... So, the ONLY good that came out of it, is that we learned from our abhorrent mistakes.
So, the ONLY good that came out of it, is that we learned from our abhorrent mistakes.
Have we? Honestly?
i don't think we have.
we are about to get involved in syria, we will intervene if israel attacks iran, we are still occupying bases all over the world, especially the middle east, which is what pissed off al qaeda in the first place...
we have learned nothing.
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
So, the ONLY good that came out of it, is that we learned from our abhorrent mistakes.
Have we? Honestly?
I dont know if we have. I can only hope. But If you think back to when we attacked Iraq ten years ago, most of us were like, "um Ok wtf?"
If that happened now, I think people would band together and raise bloody hell. I know I would. I also think it was a big reason McCain wasnt elected. People were afraid of republicans propensity to blow shit up for nothing.
For me this makes the story I heard Sunday even more meaningful.
I have lost some dear friends to Agent Orange. Birth defects, the legacy continues.
What can we say War and Hate we all know too well. Our lives touched by them.
For me this does not mean I will not allow myself to feel and share the good
when it comes around, as I did with this story.
It makes the fight against the bad none the less of course.
well carry on then.
remember, this is not about YOU or how you FEEL. this is about what we have done to the iraqi people.
serious question, what GOOD has come out of the invasion of iraq?
I agree with Jonny I would think a lot more noise if another situation the same came about.
This good humanitarian story is also something good that was done.
I tend to be positive and focus not on myself but what is inspiring.
It's natural for me and perhaps we should hunt up some more positive effects
we have had on others in the world. We can also learn from that as well.
For me this makes the story I heard Sunday even more meaningful.
I have lost some dear friends to Agent Orange. Birth defects, the legacy continues.
What can we say War and Hate we all know too well. Our lives touched by them.
For me this does not mean I will not allow myself to feel and share the good
when it comes around, as I did with this story.
It makes the fight against the bad none the less of course.
well carry on then.
remember, this is not about YOU or how you FEEL. this is about what we have done to the iraqi people.
serious question, what GOOD has come out of the invasion of iraq?
I agree with Jonny I would think a lot more noise if another situation the same came about.
This good humanitarian story is also something good that was done.
I tend to be positive and focus not on myself but what is inspiring.
It's natural for me and perhaps we should hunt up some more positive effects
we have had on others in the world. We can also learn from that as well.
yeah one positive story from a soldier who should not have been there in the first place....
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
yeah one positive story from a soldier who should not have been there in the first place....
no not a story from a soldier...
A baby girl who was given a chance to live from the good works of other human beings.
Human to human.
i am sure that the iraqis would see things much differently.
but hey, i am not going to reply to your posts anymore in this thread because to me it seems that you are trying to derail it away from the original topic, and i am not going to let it go down that road..
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
looking back at the graph about "do you view iraq favorable or unfavorable?"... it is striking to me the number of people who had a "very unfavorable" view of iraq over the last few years. we went to war under false pretenses, and as a result the iraqi people were demonized and that reflected in public opinion.
i wish we were more critical of our own involvement, because we were absolutely dead wrong.
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
Yes a positive perspective is very important in life. To listen to some good and hold onto it.
Who knows it might even inspire one's own heart to do good as these servicemen did.
:fp:
this is not about one serviceman!!
this is about the abnormally high (higher that hiroshima and nagasaki after the nuclear attacks) number of terrible birth defects which are a direct result of your "servicemen" using depleted uranium and white phorphorus munitions.
please refer to the original post!
yes I read your post and have explained how and why I included what I heard Sunday morning.
It stands as only a heart warming story that came from Iraq. Take from it what you will.
For me I did not take it as much about the servicemen involved as I did the life saved.
I'm gonna call bullshit on this. You put that story to show how great "our" servicemen are. And we all see it. You mite be fouled easily with a good hearted story but we all know what's its real purpose was. Both by you and the person who wrote that awesome article that Sunday morning for you. :thumbup: :roll:
this is about the abnormally high (higher that hiroshima and nagasaki after the nuclear attacks) number of terrible birth defects which are a direct result of your "servicemen" using depleted uranium and white phorphorus munitions.
please refer to the original post!
yes I read your post and have explained how and why I included what I heard Sunday morning.
It stands as only a heart warming story that came from Iraq. Take from it what you will.
For me I did not take it as much about the servicemen involved as I did the life saved.
I'm gonna call bullshit on this. You put that story to show how great "our" servicemen are. And we all see it. You mite be fouled easily with a good hearted story but we all know what's its real purpose was. Both by you and the person who wrote that awesome article that Sunday morning for you. :thumbup: :roll:
Do you call bullshit a lot? I guess that is the way you look at things.
We saw this on TV on the local news Sunday morning. Both JB and I sighed.
it is an emotional piece...
it went straight to the heart, as you can imagine.
As I have said I did not mean to have it anything but a heart warming positive story
of a child's life saved by our servicemen seeking out charitable human beings.
Do I think all our servicemen are bad?
no
do I think they are all good?
no.
Do I think this story erases anything bad?
no.
Do I think this is a wonderful thing that happened ?
yes.
Aside from your skewed ideas of my motives and you attempting to take
the story as heartwarming and positive what do you think of this little baby girl?
It was a very cool story and one that I am very glad took place.
yeah one positive story from a soldier who should not have been there in the first place....
no not a story from a soldier...
A baby girl who was given a chance to live from the good works of other human beings.
Human to human.
i am sure that the iraqis would see things much differently.
but hey, i am not going to reply to your posts anymore in this thread because to me it seems that you are trying to derail it away from the original topic, and i am not going to let it go down that road..
I understand I posted something uplifting and positive to the thread, that is what I do.
It is not to derail but to share something good for the heart.
I must add that the Iraq's in the TV piece were touched. They were flown to
Atlanta and their baby's life was saved. 10 years later they shared their thanks and love.
So for this family and their friends, for this little girl they saw it for what it was....
a humanitarian effort.
we are assholes with brainwashed idiots running amok in this frickin country & we bomb the fuck out of innocent people. as a matter of fact today i walked into the post office i use & i notice outside the flag is at half mast. why? what happened i'm thinking
i ask the post office clerk lady behind the counter. her respounce... a soldier from iowa was killed in iraq or wherever she said & that his funeral is today. all iowa post offices & government buildings in iowa will be sailing flags half way up the poles today.
Comments
I have lost some dear friends to Agent Orange. Birth defects, the legacy continues.
What can we say War and Hate we all know too well. Our lives touched by them.
For me this does not mean I will not allow myself to feel and share the good
when it comes around, as I did with this story.
It makes the fight against the bad none the less of course.
remember, this is not about YOU or how you FEEL. this is about what we have done to the iraqi people.
serious question, what GOOD has come out of the invasion of iraq?
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
It is so damned ridiculous that the US blew up Iraq, that all I can think of is that we had bombs we wanted to get rid of to make room for the newer/bigger stuff, and they wanted some real life/live training for our troops.
Also, I think it's made the american people question their trust in idiotic leaders such as Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, etc.. Might still be why many dont trust the republicans. They had a war-first attitude that cost us 7 trillion... So, the ONLY good that came out of it, is that we learned from our abhorrent mistakes.
Have we? Honestly?
we are about to get involved in syria, we will intervene if israel attacks iran, we are still occupying bases all over the world, especially the middle east, which is what pissed off al qaeda in the first place...
we have learned nothing.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
I dont know if we have. I can only hope. But If you think back to when we attacked Iraq ten years ago, most of us were like, "um Ok wtf?"
If that happened now, I think people would band together and raise bloody hell. I know I would. I also think it was a big reason McCain wasnt elected. People were afraid of republicans propensity to blow shit up for nothing.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/1633/Iraq.aspx
This good humanitarian story is also something good that was done.
I tend to be positive and focus not on myself but what is inspiring.
It's natural for me and perhaps we should hunt up some more positive effects
we have had on others in the world. We can also learn from that as well.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
A baby girl who was given a chance to live from the good works of other human beings.
Human to human.
but hey, i am not going to reply to your posts anymore in this thread because to me it seems that you are trying to derail it away from the original topic, and i am not going to let it go down that road..
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
looking back at the graph about "do you view iraq favorable or unfavorable?"... it is striking to me the number of people who had a "very unfavorable" view of iraq over the last few years. we went to war under false pretenses, and as a result the iraqi people were demonized and that reflected in public opinion.
i wish we were more critical of our own involvement, because we were absolutely dead wrong.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
I'm gonna call bullshit on this. You put that story to show how great "our" servicemen are. And we all see it. You mite be fouled easily with a good hearted story but we all know what's its real purpose was. Both by you and the person who wrote that awesome article that Sunday morning for you. :thumbup: :roll:
We saw this on TV on the local news Sunday morning. Both JB and I sighed.
it is an emotional piece...
it went straight to the heart, as you can imagine.
As I have said I did not mean to have it anything but a heart warming positive story
of a child's life saved by our servicemen seeking out charitable human beings.
Do I think all our servicemen are bad?
no
do I think they are all good?
no.
Do I think this story erases anything bad?
no.
Do I think this is a wonderful thing that happened ?
yes.
Aside from your skewed ideas of my motives and you attempting to take
the story as heartwarming and positive what do you think of this little baby girl?
It was a very cool story and one that I am very glad took place.
It is not to derail but to share something good for the heart.
I must add that the Iraq's in the TV piece were touched. They were flown to
Atlanta and their baby's life was saved. 10 years later they shared their thanks and love.
So for this family and their friends, for this little girl they saw it for what it was....
a humanitarian effort.
i ask the post office clerk lady behind the counter. her respounce... a soldier from iowa was killed in iraq or wherever she said & that his funeral is today. all iowa post offices & government buildings in iowa will be sailing flags half way up the poles today.
(keeping my thoughts to myself, thank you)
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
the sun stands I will fight
no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
Point dead on Chadwick!