| >Does your personal experience involve having read news articles like the one we're discussing, or watching television news covering the subject? I suppose technically, yes. But it also comes from my father working as a neonatologist and my own experience working with severely disabled children, many of whom were crack babies or suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome, throughout my 20s. > which after some time appears to have negligible effect This is the problem. This study does not show that cocaine has a negligible effect. It shows that cocaine has a less than poverty effect for children that make it to term. Big, big difference. >Where are the statistics? Enjoy. Cocaine causes increased rates of premature birth (between 3 and 4 times the normal incidence). Premature birth, by itself, leads to severe developmental problems. Here are a few recent studies and surveys. [1], [2], [3], [4] >What is your hypothesis for how the effects of poverty would be negated for the cohort/time period you're interested in? You could look at women in poverty who give birth without cocaine in their system and compare statistics that way. It has been done. Prematurity is at about a percentage point higher for that group than the population at large compared to around 320% for those that test positive for cocaine. [1] http://fn.bmj.com/content/94/5/339.short [2]https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&c... [3] http://www.issues4life.org/pdfs/20110100ajog.pdf [4] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21257143 |
You're right, I overstated my claim. The effect is negligible with respect to the effects of poverty.
> Cocaine causes increased rates of premature birth
The studies you've linked do not support your statement. The studies say that cocaine use is associated with, not that cocaine is the cause.
re: [1] I never disputed that PT infants have developmental problems.
re: [2] "Studies revealed that in most domains, the neurobiological effects of PCE play a subtle role, with effects no greater than other known teratogens or environmental factors. Associations between PCE and negative developmental outcomes were typically attenuated when models included conditions that commonly co-occur with PCE (eg. tobacco or alcohol exposure, malnutrition, poor quality of care)." and "Preconception and prenatal cocaine use is commonly associated with poor pregnancy outcomes with psychosocial, behavioral, and risk factors, such as poverty, poor nutrition, stress, depression, physical abuse, lake[sic] of social support, and sexually transmitted infection. Illicit drug use during pregnancy is a major risk factor for maternal morbidity and neonatal complications."
re: [3] "Cocaine use during pregnancy was associated with significantly higher odds of preterm birth"
re: [4] "Prenatal cocaine exposure is significantly associated with preterm birth, low birthweight, and small for gestational age infants."