Neonatal Diseases

Neonatal diseases mean those relating to or affecting the infant during the first month after birth. It pertains to a defects at the time of birth which can be either mental or physical pertaining to errors in the development and formation of skin tissues, brain cells or bone structure.

The human genome incorporates about three billion chemically based pairs. They contain all the instructions and data that defines a ‘human being’, the term ‘genome’ actually refers jointly to the DNA and relative protein molecules inside each organism or cell — with each parent contributing a single chromosome per pair.

A particular sequence of DNA is a gene and this defines how inheritance functions.

A cell’s critical activities are governed by these genes that contain all the information required to create the proteins and molecules of DNA. Even a miniscule deviation in these genes creates a wide change in the protein mix resulting in abnormalities in the human growth.

Some of the neonatal diseases that are very common are Birth asphyxia / Breathing / Respiratory problems; Cardiac / Congenital heart diseases; Fetal ethanol / alcohol syndromes; Gastrointestinal / Hematological /metabolical disorders; Low birth weight / Premature birth; Physical malformations; Lung injuries and several Neurological problems.

In most cases of neonatal diseases, it is not one, but many such variations of protein mix that results into a complex problem – many protein pathways get involved and multiple genes get affected.

Environmental factors also add to the problem.

All these complexities result in affecting the fetal development. When the composition of genes goes out of control, genetic alterations are bound to show up.

Those who are born with more deficiencies than the normal limit are defined an neonatal cases, with some who cannot even live beyond a few days of existence while others carry on for ages with whatever faults in their system they have inherited at birth.

There are various treatments available for such neonatal cases – many of the work but unfortunately others don’t. Though we are God’s greatest of creations, no one is perfect – all of us are born unique with various levels of deficiencies all defined by the specific structure of our unique DNA and genes.

Unfortunately it just cannot be helped since it’s all in our genes!