HEALTH
Major Israel Study Sheds
Light On Birth Defects
I ;3Y HELEN DAVIS
Special to The Jewish News
Jerusalem--A group of 7,345 re-
ligious Jewish women in Jeru-
salem has provided a Hadassah
doctor with information that
L could lead to a dramatic reduction
14 11 birth defects.
According to Dr. Susan Harlap,
associate professor of epide-
miology and public health at the
Hebrew University-Hadassah Me-
dical School in Jerusalem, her
study of these women has demon-
strated a definite link between the
, time of conception and the likeli-
hood of defects in a new-born
child.
Dr. Harlap's research has pro-
, duced two startling conclusions
about women who conceive late in
their ovulation cycle: first the
chances of having a boy jump
from the average 51 per cent to
'around 70 per cent; second, and
more ominously, the likelihood of
having a child with a birth defect
is multiplied fourfold.
Doctors have long known that
birth defects are far more common
in boys than girls, and Dr. Harlap
-
The key to the
research was the
availability in
Jerusalem of
observant Jewish
women.
believes that her study may have
provided an explanation for this
phenomenon — late conceptions
produce both more boy babies and
more birth defects.
`_--, The key to Dr. Harlap's re-
search was the availability in Je-
rusalem of a large number of wom-
, en who could give her precise in-
formation about when they con-
ceived.
Observant women strictly regu-
late the time of their sexual activi-
ty and are, therefore, able to tell
within a day when they conceive.
But the results of Dr. Harlap's re-
search, of course, apply to all
women.
According to Jewish law, sexual
relations — indeed, all physical
contact — between a woman and
;, her husband must cease at the on-
set of menstruation and may be
resumed only seven days after it
has ended.
This, says Dr. Harlap, who is
not herself observant, means that
for most observant Jewish worn-
en, sexual relations resume just
before the onset of ovulation.
---' "Jewish law," she says, "fits a
woman's physiology perfectly.
The chances for conception are
highest at this time and the risk
of defects lowest."
The problem arises for women
who ovulate before they are per-
-,, milted to resume sexual relations.
,--' These women may, therefore, con-
ceive when the egg, which has a
lifespan of 72 hours, is already
beginning to disintegrate. And it
is among this group that Dr. Har-
lap has found a significant in-
crease in male babies and major
birth defects, including mongo-
lism and spina bifida.
Dr. Harlap's findings raise a
large question mark over the ad-
vice that has long been given to
women who have trouble conceiv-
ing. They are told to take their
temperature regularly and at-
tempt to conceive when it rises.
But according to Dr. Harlap,
this is precisely the wrong time to
conceive as the rise in tempera-
ture indicates that ovulation took
place 24 hours earlier. When the
temperature begins to rise, the
structure of the egg may already
be breaking down, with the ac-
companying high risks of birth de-
fects.
Instead, she advises women to
try to determine when they will
ovulate and then attempt to con-
ceive just before ovulation occurs:
"It's better for the sperm to be
waiting round for the egg than the
other way around."
But until more sophisticated
tests are developed, only women
with regular menstrual cycles will
be able to predict with any preci-
sion just when they ovulate — by
counting back 14 days from when
they expect their next period to
begin.
"Some women — about 15 ,per
cent — actually experience a phy-
sical sensation when they ovulate,
and for those who can tell it's bet-
ter to stop having intercourse for
the next few days.
"Within 10 years or so, I believe
we will have accurate tests to pre-
dict when a woman will ovulate.
That will be a tremendous break-
through in fertility research and
— together with the sort of infor-
mation we are getting now —
could prevent a significant propor-
tion of major birth defects."
Dr. Harlap's research into con-
ception has provided her with the
springboard for her next project:
twins. In her recent study, she
noted a huge increase of twins —
from the normal 10 per thousand
to 30 per thousand — in late con-
ceptions.
"We now speculate that there is
another kind of twinning than the
usual identical/non-identical varie-
ties. We think that the egg in the
later stages of its life may split
and be fertilized by two sperm.
"This, we believe, produces non-
identical twins who share the
genetic characteristics of their
mother."
Dr. Harlap, 44, is a graduate of
the Royal Free Hospital School of
Medicine in London. She immi-
grated to Israel after the Six Day
War of 1967 and is married to an
Israeli.
Congress Cites
Haym Salomon
Los Angeles- (JTA) — Two
California Republicans intro-
duced the Haym Salomon Memo-
rial Act of 1985 in the U.S. House
of Representatives this week, cit-
ing the Polish-born Jew whose fi-
nancial accomplishments helped
the United States win its war for
independence 209 years ago. The
bill was introduced by Reps.
Robert Dornan and Carlos
Moorhead.
Salomon, born in Lissa, Poland,
came to the American colonies in
1772 and was a broker in New
York and Philadelphia. Through
his financial contacts he was able
to raise credit for George Wash-
ington's Continental Army from
France, Spain and Holland.
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