Spina Bifida

During the development of the embryo, within the first month the nervous system is formed. It is created by a plate of cells called the neural plate. This then turns in to the neural sheath. The neural sheath by the 28th day, develops into the brain and the spinal cord. If problems arise during the development of the cord, it is called a neural tube defect which can lead to spinal bifida or other spinal cord deformities. Spina Bifida is one of the most common birth defects with in the United States, one out of every eight babies are diagnosed with this disorder. Also 95 percent of babies with spina bifida and other neural tube defects are born to parents with no family history of these disorders. If one child has spina bifida, the risk of recurrence in any other pregnancy is greatly increased, to about one in 40. Spina Bifida is idiopathic meaning there is no cause to why this occurs. The word spina bifida means cleft spine which is the incomplete development of the CNS. Scientists suspect that the lack of folic acid in the mothers diet could cause a defect in the neural tube. Doctors push the prenatal vitamins due to them containing the folic acid that is needed in the diet. A mother who take the prenatal vitamins as soon as she finds out that she is pregnant, decreases her risk for her child having spina bifida by 50 percent. Another assumption is the maternal serum alpha fetoprotein level in the body. This fetoprotein is made naturally by the fetus and the placenta. If the protein “leaks” into the mothers blood steam and the levels are very high, this is an indicator that a neural tube defect may have occurred. According to the NINDS website, the United States has the most people diagnosed with spina bifida a common neural tube defect and affects 1,500 to 2,000 unborn infants yearly and today there are over 166,000 people still living that have spinal bifida. Spina Bifida have four different types the Occulta, Meningocele, Meningomyelocele, and