Spina Bifida For Children
January 28th, 2010 - No Comments - Category: Basics of Back Pain
Approx one child out of 1000 births is born with Spina Bifida defect. This is the most common permanent disabling birth defect in the U.S. It occurs when the spinal cord and surrounding nerves fail to develop normally and results in an incomplete fusion of spinal column. It occurs at the end of first month of pregnancy.
Problems In Children With Spina Bifida:
- Children who suffer with both hydrocephalus and myelomeningocele may experience learning disabilities. They may face problems with language and reading comprehension, difficulty paying attention and also in solving mathematics problems.
- The higher the malformations occurs on the back, the higher the nerve damage on the back. This damage leads to muscles function loss and sensation.
- The other neurological problems associated with spina bifida in children is Chiari II malformation. In this, the rear portion of brain or cerebellum and brain stem comes downward into spinal canal or the neck area.
- This condition can lead to problems in swallowing, feeding. Breathing and choking.
- Children with severe defect high on spine will require a wheelchair.
- Children with defect low on spine will require can use leg braces, crutches and bladder catheterizations.
Spina Bifida Statistics:
- Statistics show that couple who have one baby with spina bifida defect, have 4% chances of another baby affected with this defect.
- Caucasians and Hispanics have more chances of having a baby with spina bifida defect as compared to African Americans, most Asian ethnic groups or Ashkenazi Jews.
- Spina Bifida occurs in seven out of every 10,000 live births in the U.S. In U.S. Only, 60 million women are at risk of having pregnancy affected by spina bifida.
Spina Bifida Heart Problems:
Sometimes, there are some other problems associated with Spina Bifida.
Heart problems is one of them along with hydrocephalus, orthopaedic problems and other disabilities and varying degrees of paralysis.