What Is Blue Baby Syndrome?
3. Risk Factors
Heart defects may develop in an unborn baby due to unchangeable factors, such as genetic predisposition, a chronic condition like diabetes, or advanced maternal age (i.e., over 40). Other factors, such as a poor diet or drug use, are within the mother’s ability to control.
The nitrites in the baby’s system that can cause methemoglobinemia are produced in the body from another chemical called nitrates. Nitrates and nitrites are different molecules containing the element nitrogen. Nitrates, which are often found in green vegetables and well water, have three nitrogen atoms, while nitrites only have two. The mature digestive system has natural fail-safes that prevent nitrates from converting to nitrites in dangerous amounts. However, these fail-safes have not yet developed in a baby’s digestive tract. Thus, babies are more vulnerable to methemoglobinemia than adults.
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