Congenital Heart Defects Causes and Risk Factors

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Congenital heart defects happen because the heart does not develop normally while the baby is growing in the womb. Doctors often do not know why congenital heart defects occur. Researchers do know that  genetic genetic (jeh-NEH-tik):
Having to do with genes. Most genes are sequences of DNA that contain information for making specific proteins or molecules of RNA that perform important functions in a cell. The information in genes is passed from parents to children. can sometimes play a role.

It is common for congenital heart defects to occur because of changes, or mutations, in the child’s DNA DNA (NULL):
:The molecules inside cells that carry information and pass it from one generation to the next. . The mutations in the DNA may or may not have come from the parents.

Rarely, congenital heart defects are caused by particular genes that are inherited inherited (in-HAYR-ih-ted):
The passing of genetic information from a parent to a child through genes. from the parents. That means a parent who has a congenital heart defect may be more likely to have a child with the defect.

Congenital heart defects are the most common type of birth defect, occurring in about one percent of live births in the United States. The risk of having a baby with a congenital heart defect is influenced by many factors including:

• Family history and genetics. Congenital heart disease is not usually passed along to your children, but there is some risk. The risk is greater if your baby’s other parent, or another of your children, has a congenital heart defect
• Smoking during pregnancy or exposure to secondhand smoke
• Some medicines taken during the first trimester of pregnancy, such as angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors for high blood pressure blood pressure (blud PREH-sher):
  The force of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries as the heart pumps blood. Blood pressure has two measurements: systolic, which is measured when the heart beats and blood pressure is at its highest, and diastolic, which is measured between heart beats when blood pressure is at its lowest. and retinoic acids for acne treatment
• Other medical conditions like diabetes, phenylketonuria (a rare, inherited disorder that affects how your body processes a protein protein (PRO-teen):
  Large molecule made up of building blocks called amino acids. Proteins make up the structure of a cell. Proteins are involved in structures, hormones, enzymes, muscle contraction, immune system responses, and other essential life functions. The amino acids involved are generally determined by a gene. called phenylalanine), or a viral infection called rubella