Pregnant Women: Avoid Unnecessary Ultrasounds

Great! NOW we find out that ultrasound can affect brain development:

When pregnant mice were exposed to ultrasound, a small number of nerve cells in the developing brains of their fetuses failed to extend correctly in the cerebral cortex.

"Our study in mice does not mean that use of ultrasound on human fetuses for appropriate diagnostic and medical purposes should be abandoned," said lead researcher Pasko Rakic, chairman of the neurobiology department at Yale University School of Medicine.

However, he added in a telephone interview, women should avoid unnecessary ultrasound scans until more research has been done.

We don't know what ultrasounds do to human brain tissue. But if you don't need one, don't get one.

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