Pregnancy and the Reef Aquarium

[Maxx]

SaltyQueen had asked awhile back about concerns w/ pregnant women and reef keeping, as she and her husband plan on having children in the next year or so. I was (until recently) a student seeking my paramedic license, so I was in a position to get some answers for her. I had to wait awhile for the right people to show up as the answers I was getting were kinda vague or not geared for what I was looking for.

Basically the two main things that we are concerned w/ are Anaphalaxis (a severe reaction caused by the bodies immune system, fatal if left untreated) and Palytoxin which is a nasty toxin produced by palythoa, (a species of Zooanthid or button polyps). Palytoxin is pretty easy to address....don't touch your eyes/mouth/nose etc before washing your hands w/ soap if you've been handling Zoos in your tank. This appliesd to your children and to your other pets...dogs cats etc.....my dogs love to lick wet hands....keep this in mind. Palytoxin is very deadly, there are several reports of animals being inadvertantly poisoned and dying after ingesting the poison either by licking or eating Zoanthids. There are a few cases of humans dying from palytoxin as well, so be careful as there is no antidote for palytoxin poisoning.

As far as anaphalactic shock goes....as I mentioned earlier this a is a severe over-reaction of your bodies immune system. It identifies something as a foreign body and goes into full tilt overload. There are many effects but the big concern is airway. Tissues swell due to histamine release into the bloodstream. When massive amounts of histamines are released due to anaphalaxis, there will be severe swelling. This swelling can close off the trachea ( the tube that allows air from your mouth and nose down to your lungs) and prevent adequate breathing. The treatment for this is a dose of epinehrine. Epinephrine does many things primarily dilation and relaxation to bronchial tissues which allows air back into the lungs. Swelling is handled by Benedryl which is a histamine blocker. The big concern here is the epinephrine, which is listed as a category C drug in the FDA's pregnancy categories. The FDA states..."Either studies in animals have revealed adverse side effects on the fetus, and there are no controlled studies in women, or studies in women and animals are unavailable. Drugs should be given only if the potential benefits justify the potential risk to the fetus. Epinephrine primarily acts to constrict blood vessels, including the blood vessels that feed the fetus. Oxygen starvation can occur causing fatalities or complications. It should also be noted that 80% of the time the mother goes into shock fetal mortality occurs as well. With that in mind the prehospital protocals that local EMS services follow are to save the mother, after all if the mother dies, the fetus dies. To save the mother in an anaphalactic situation epinephrine will be used, as that is considered to outweigh the risks to the fetus.+

Basically the best advice I could give a pregnant woman who is concerned about the potential risks, and doesnt know if her body has any hypersensitivities to anything found in the tank, would be to KEEP YOUR HANDS OUT OF THE TANK.

This is the only way to be 100% safe and avoid potential complications if you are unsure of any allergies. Keep in mind that the immune system can sometimes decide all on its own that something which has never been a problem before, suddenly is one now. Think of all the people you know of who never used to have allergies, who now do, (this is more common in the midwest than many other places). I dont say this to be alarmist, just to inform. Its better to be safe than sorry.

On a similar but unrelated note, most marine toxins which are injected, (Lionfish stings, scorpionfish, sting rays etc..) can be broken down, (proteins denatured) in heat. Should you find yourself stung in one of these situations notify EMS then soak the affected area in as hot of water as can be handled w/o causing burns, until EMS shows up.

I hope this helps anyone out there who has any questions like Salty queen did. If anyone else has questions dont hesitate to ask, if I don't know the answer, I can certainly go to the people who do.
Nick

[Craig Manoukian]

Awesome information Nick. Thanks so much for your concern and time to investigate this very important issue.

[SaltyQueen]

Thanks so much for finding this info. I'm a nurse, but I work in the psychiatric field, and they don't cover reefing in nursing school Thanks for your research!

[wooddood]

great job nick,excellent research and very much appreciated thanks.

[ScottT1980]

Excellent work Maxx, I remember when Saltyqueen and I discused this...

Take er easy
Scott T.

[TDEVIL]

you know, stuff like this, is why we all joined RS

i too remember SQ thread and her concerns

your post, Nick, IMO, deserves some Karma

great job

TD

[Maxx]

Glad I could help folks....
Its nice to be able to put some of the skills Ive learned to some good use.
Nick

[Craig Manoukian]

You da man, Nick! Have you gotten "The Five Love Languages" book yet? Just checkin'!

[mnreefman]

i dont know why but i thought this thread was going to be going somewhere else.... but great info

[Craig Manoukian]

mnreefman,

You just never know wher ye old reef discussion will take a good friendly community of members, eh?

[mnreefman]

aint dat da truf

[jks1]

Great info Maxx, thanks for the diligence

[Curtswearing]

Awesome info bud. I have been hit and miss the last couple of days but I saw this and said WOW!!!

[wooddood]

yea nick is awesome is'nt he?just tootin your horn a little bit nick i think you deserve it bud thanks.

[ReefLady]

Nick,

Fantastic info., thanks so much.