Neural Tube Defects:
Neural tube defects are birth defects of the brain, spine or spinal cord and usually occur during the first months of pregnancy. There are two most common neural defects: spina bifida and anencephaly.
Spina Bifida:
Neural tube defects are birth defects of the brain, spine or spinal cord and usually occur during the first months of pregnancy. There are two most common neural defects: spina bifida and anencephaly.
Spina Bifida:
- Also known as cleft spine
- Incomplete development of the brain and spinal cord
- Most common neural tube defect in the US, affecting 1,500 to 2,000 babies each year
- 166,000 individuals with spina bifida in the US
- Occulta: the mildest and most common form, a layer of skin covers the malformation or opening in the vertebrae
- Closed neural tube defects: the spinal cord is marked by malformations of fat, bone, meninges
- Meningocele: spinal fluid and meninges protrude through an abnormal vertebral opening
- Myelomeningocele: most seve and occurs when the spin cord is exposed through the opening of the spine. Results in partial paralysis of parts of the body below the spine
- There has not been any research stating what exactly causes spina bifida, some scientist state that factors may be genetic or nutritional
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Anencephaly
There is no none treatment for anencephaly, no cure has yet to be found.
- Birth defects that occurs when a baby is born without parts of the brain and skull
- When the neural tube forms and closes, it holds the baby's brain,skull, spinal cord, and back bones but anencephaly occurs when the upper part of the neural tube does not close completely
- 1 in every 4,859 babies in the United States are born with this defect
- Genes
- Environmental Factors
- Low intake of folic acid before getting pregnant
There is no none treatment for anencephaly, no cure has yet to be found.