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Q: Are eclipses responsible for cleft lips? What are the disadvantages of the condition? How can we prevent the condition?

Krishna: NO! Eclipses don't cause cleft lips. That is certain. 

People have several misconceptions about them. Earlier people used to think that if the mother 's pregnant during an eclipse and her deeds like cutting fruits and vegetables during the eclipse period cut the lips of the fetus in the womb which cause cleft lips.  Shakespeare attributed the feature to an intervention by mischievous spirits. Many cultures also believed that clefts were "in the blood," or familial, which aligns with current understanding.

Clefts are considered "complex" by those who study birth defects, meaning that they result from a combination of environmental factors during pregnancy and family genetics. Some of the environmental causes include taking certain prescription medications and exposure to some toxins during pregnancy. Till now, scientists have identified at least 30 possible genetic regions increasing risk of facial clefts, and suspect that there are still many more regions to discover. There are other mysteries as well, such as why cleft palate alone is more common in girls, but when cleft palate is combined with cleft lip, it is more common in boys.
There are several different types of facial clefts. The most common are cleft lip, when the upper lip does not form properly leaving a gap, and cleft palate, when the roof of the mouth does not close while a baby is developing in utero. These birth defects arise very early during development when the embryo is about the size of a grain of rice. At this stage the face is merely a collection of swellings rapidly growing toward one another in order to fuse together and form the lips, nose and palate. Thus, in a way, everyone starts out with clefts of the lip and palate.

In most cases, these swellings fuse before the end of the first trimester of pregnancy, forming an intact lip and palate. When this fails to happen, a child is born with a cleft of the lip, the palate, or both. Worldwide, facial clefts are estimated to occur in 1 in 700 births, making it one of the most common birth defects. 

People with cleft lip and palate, as well as their families, face many issues associated with this birth defect. Although clefts may seem like cosmetic problems, they adversely impact basic functions like eating and speaking. Children with clefts must endure multiple corrective surgeries, often beginning when they are only a few months old. However, the surgeries are often just the beginning.Many years of intensive orthodontic treatment and speech therapy are routinely needed.

Beyond immediate medical care, individuals born with a cleft also tend to experience more learning difficulties, higher mortality rates at all stages of life, and higher risk for other disorders such as breast, brain and colon cancers.

There are still no known measures parents can take that will definitively prevent a facial cleft.
Doctors do know that smoking and poor nutrition during pregnancy can increase the chances of having a baby with a cleft. But these are important factors to improve health outcomes for every pregnancy, not just for purpose of preventing a cleft. There is also some evidence that supplementation with folic acid before and during pregnancy may provide some protection but still work is needed to authenticate this thinking.

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