STUDY SHOWS ICE EFFECTS ON FETUSES

A Hawaii study has found that children born to mothers who used crystal
methamphetamine during pregnancy suffered more physical and developmental
problems than children born to mothers who didn't use the drug.

MariaIliana Stark, presented her findings Thursday morning to a packed room at
the University of Hawaii at Hilo and again Thursday night in Pahoa.

Stark's research project, studying patients at Kaiser Permanente, came from a
dissertation she did for the University of Hawaii's School of Nursing. She
followed 211 children into childhood after exposure to crystal methamphetamine,
or ice, in the womb. It was the first study of the effects of the drug beyond
the newborn period, she said.

The 1992 - 99 study compared the ice babies with 193 children who weren't
exposed to the drugs. Stark matched them by the mother's race and socioeconomic
status.

More of the mothers who used ice suffered risks such as anemia and high blood
pressure during childbirth. Their babies were more likely to be born
prematurely and to require longer hospital stays, Stark said.

The ice babies also were more likely to cry more and to suffer from sleep
problems, tremors, seizures, changes in respiratory rates and problems with
sucking, she said.

As the ice babies grew, they were more likely to suffer from language problems
and delayed speech. "Language is a good predictor of cognitive development,"
Stark said.

Although the largest age group in the study was 25 - 30, the age group with the
most ice users was 19 - 24, Stark said.

The study also found that 40 percent of the mothers who exposed their fetuses
to the drug didn't complete high school, while only 23 percent of the control
group were high school dropouts.

Seventy - seven percent of the ice - exposed babies were born to unmarried
mothers while 61 percent of the control group weren't married. "The exposed
group were likely to have four pregnancies and three live births," Stark said.

A much larger percentage of mothers from the exposed group, 21 percent, had no
prenatal care, compared with 1 percent from the control group. Another 44
percent of the exposed group didn't receive prenatal care until late, compared
with 36 percent from the control group.

Despite the findings, Stark said it isn't clear if crystal methamphetamine is
directly responsible for the babies' problems or if the problems come from
other factors associated with the drug use, such as neglect or alcohol and
tobacco use.

"We still know very little on what are the specific effects," she said. "We do
know that the use of drugs is a chronic medical problem."

Stark said it is important to identify the children exposed to ice in order to
improve their environment. "Nobody likes to label a child as being exposed to
crystal meth but we need to follow these children," she said. "So how do we
balance that?"

Stark suggested that mothers would be more likely to seek help if the response
to their drug use was therapeutic rather than legal.

She also said it is critical that doctors ask their patients if they use drugs.
She said only 40 percent of doctors ask about alcohol use and 20 percent ask
about illicit drugs. "We need to ask the question," she said. "Not just assume
that nobody is using drugs."

Stark said more studies need to be done on the long - term effects of exposure
to ice in the womb. "This wasn't the perfect study," she said. "I wish it was."

Stark is scheduled to present her findings Monday at Kahilu Town Hall in Waimea
from 9 to 11:30 a.m. and from 4 to 6:30 p.m. and again Tuesday at King
Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel from 9:30 a.m. to noon.