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Scientists are baffled by spatter of babies born without hands or arms in France

Discussion in 'News Flash! News Flash!' started by SunKissWanderer, Jul 12, 2019.

  1. SunKissWanderer

    SunKissWanderer Well-Known Member

    Jan 9, 2017
    Ratings:
    +114,513 / 36,596 / -652
    Scientists are baffled by spatter of babies born without hands or arms in France, as investigation fails to discover a cause
    [​IMG]
    • Health Ministry interim report said it didn't know why babies born with no arms
    • Ain, Morbihan, Loire-Atlantique saw the defects, known as upper limb reduction
    • Caused alarm among public that cases might be caused by some kind of toxin
    • In 265-page report, experts said it was impossible to draw definitive conclusions


    Scientists have no answers for why around a dozen babies have been born without arms or hands in parts of rural France - as an investigation fails to identify a cause.

    An interim report published by the Health Ministry today said it did not know why children born in Ain, Morbihan and Loire-Atlantique since 2000 had the defects, known as upper limb reduction.

    The births have raised alarm among the French public that they might be caused by some kind of toxin in food, water or air, or that pesticides might be responsible.

    But the long-awaited interim report by Sante Publique France, an agency of the Health Ministry, offered no relief to families looking for answers.

    The expert panel concluded there was no evidence of a 'cluster' of cases in the Ain region, where it said there were six cases.

    It said there was a cluster in Morbihan, which involved three babies.

    Additional investigations are to be carried out in nearby Loire-Atlantique.

    The agency gave no figures for that area, but local media reported several cases.

    In the 265-page document, experts said it was impossible to draw definitive conclusions and that possible environmental factors would be assessed at a later stage.

    The report read: 'Scientific studies screening, questionnaires and local environment testing have been conducted by Sante Publique France which has not identified an obvious cause.'

    A second report is expected by the end of the year.

    Epidemiologist Emmanuelle Amar, who first revealed the birth defects in Ain, said last year the only thing mothers of the affected babies had in common was that they lived in cereal-growing areas amid fields of corn and sunflower.

    'We do not have answers to our questions,' Samuel Bernard, father of a daughter born in 2013 with a missing left arm in Morbihan told France Info radio, adding he and other families were asking for an independent investigation to take place.

    Hospital registries show limb defects occur in 1.7 of every 10,000 births, or about 150 cases per year in France.

    Birth defects can have multiple causes, including chromosome disorders, drug use or exposure to toxic substances.

    But authorities only have six registries covering around 20 per cent of France's population to produce the figures, making a nationwide investigation difficult.

    In the late 1950s and early 1960s, about 10,000 babies worldwide were born with malformed or missing limbs after their mothers received the drug thalidomide to treat morning sickness.


    MOTHER OF SEVEN-YEAR-OLD WHO WAS BORN WITH HIS LEFT HAND MISSING WAS TOLD 'IT HAPPENS. WE WON'T HAVE EXPLANATIONS'
    [​IMG]

    Melinda Mostini's seven-year-old son Leo was born without a left hand and his arm partially missing.

    The youngster was delivered at the Lorient hospital, Morbihannaise, in western France in October 2011.

    Ms Mostini, who is also mother to 10-year-old Eva, discovered Leo had the defect during an ultrasound scan in June.

    After she asked why, doctors reportedly told her: 'It happens. These are accidents. We do not have explanations.'

    And seven years on, medics are still clueless as to what caused Leo's birth defect.

    Ms Mostini told Le Télégramme: 'I wish I could give Leo a real answer, just to explain why he has only one hand.'

    But the youngster refuses to let his condition hold him back and simply tells friends his hand did not develop in his mother's womb.

    'Leo has known how to tie his laces since kindergarten. He spent hours on the couch practicing!' Ms Mostini added.

    The youngster, who his mother calls a 'little fighter', has been horse riding since he was just four years old, and is a keen cyclist, swimmer and rugby player.

    Despite his confidence, cruel strangers still sometimes make nasty comments.

    'Children have the right to be curious but they are sometimes hard,' Ms Mostini said.

    Leo has had his first consultation to have a prosthetic fitted after he did not take to one he was given as a toddler.

    As part of the initial investigation into the problem, Ms Mostini was questioned by doctors as to her eating habits during pregnancy and what drugs she took.

    However, no common thread was found between her and other affected families.

    'The question arises as to whether it could be environmental', she told FranceInfo.

    Referencing 'fertilisers, pesticides', Ms Mostini wonders whether something 'happened at this time on the commune'.

    Scientists baffled by babies born without hands or arms in France, as probe fails to discover cause | Daily Mail Online
     
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  2. VindictiveBab3

    VindictiveBab3 Well-Known Member

    Jan 26, 2017
    Ratings:
    +169,236 / 6,577 / -2,963
    That’s so sad omg
     
    • Thanks Thanks x 9
    • Sad Sad x 1
  3. Mrs.Euwe

    Mrs.Euwe ...the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5 NIV

    Feb 11, 2016
    Ratings:
    +46,188 / 1,733 / -1,023
    [​IMG]
     
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  4. Mikhail Bakunin

    Mikhail Bakunin Well-Known Member

    Aug 16, 2012
    Ratings:
    +58,177 / 8,653 / -12,185
    That's terrible.
     
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  5. Mrs.Euwe

    Mrs.Euwe ...the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5 NIV

    Feb 11, 2016
    Ratings:
    +46,188 / 1,733 / -1,023
    Regions of the most contaminated water in France:
    [​IMG]
    In an unfortunate coincidence, northern French town Berck, whose name translates as 'yuck' in English, had some of the most polluted tap water in France.

    A string of ten Brittany towns, including Brandivy, Cruguel and Grand-Champ, wound up on the group's black list due to radioactivity contamination, French paper Le Télégramme reported.
     
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  6. nissen

    nissen Well-Known Member

    May 10, 2015
    Ratings:
    +193,299 / 17,745 / -1,214
    thalidomide was the first thing to come to mind
     
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  7. Nandi Wabazulu

    Nandi Wabazulu Well-Known Member

    Apr 19, 2018
    Ratings:
    +87,634 / 6,980 / -4,500
    Thalidomide is probably the cause. Nuclear power plants give off less radiation than coal power plants if that was the cause then every baby who lives near a coal plant would be mutated. Nuclear power is the safe alternative the coal industry has everyone fooled.
     
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  8. Nandi Wabazulu

    Nandi Wabazulu Well-Known Member

    Apr 19, 2018
    Ratings:
    +87,634 / 6,980 / -4,500
    I said the same thing lol
     
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  9. Perico

    Perico B, I will still chop u up n feed yo ass2the poor

    May 19, 2016
    Ratings:
    +4,063 / 159 / -23
    I read years ago that a number of babies were born in the 1950s/1960s without limbs and it was due to the teratogenic effect of mothers taking thorazine while pregnant. It will be interesting to see what the common denominator is here.
     
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  10. Mrs.Euwe

    Mrs.Euwe ...the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5 NIV

    Feb 11, 2016
    Ratings:
    +46,188 / 1,733 / -1,023
    It's either has a biological, environmental or a genetic origin.
     
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  11. Noira

    Noira Your new baby mama

    Aug 15, 2018
    Ratings:
    +13,038 / 2,341 / -375
    What about the red zone areas from WW1?
     
  12. Keep_It_Pretty

    Keep_It_Pretty Well-Known Member

    May 13, 2014
    Ratings:
    +7,837 / 320 / -194
    This post said nothing. It's like saying, "this either happened in the past, present or future."
     
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  13. Extravagant J

    Extravagant J Pretty Pimpin'

    Oct 2, 2012
    Ratings:
    +27,515 / 829 / -339
    Thalidomide.
     
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  14. LooksLikeRain

    LooksLikeRain Well-Known Member

    Jun 20, 2018
    Ratings:
    +15,099 / 346 / -201
    Oh come on. They are either trying to hide it or arent looking hard enough for a plethora of reasons.
     
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