what exactly is spina bifida?

Question

PLEASE don't just copy and paste information from another website! I'd like to hear it in someone's own words, please. I know a bit about it, but not much. thank you.

Answer 1

spinal bifida is a congential defect usually caused by a vitamin deficincy in the morther (folic acid), now when you are pregnant the doc makes all mothers take a folic acid suppliment for the first few months of pregnancy. The condition is where the spine grows on the outside of the body rather than the inside.
In these times there are wonderful surgeries to repair the condition, placing the spinal cord,etc back in the babys body.
I am a respiratory therapist, and out of all the cases I have seen in the hospital, the one I remember was a 20-something guy with it, that ended up dying of a severe pnemonia, all the cases I have seen were short patients, who could not walk, and could not lay flat on their backs... they also look as if they have a tail.
The surgery now, does not have those results.

Answer 2

About Spina Bifida

Over 250,000 Americans are in the Spina Bifida Community. An estimated 70,000 people in the United States are currently living with spina bifida, the most common permanently disabling birth defect. Spina Bifida is a neural tube defect that happens in the first month of pregnancy when the spinal column doesn’t close completely. There are 60 million women at risk of having a baby born with Spina Bifida. Everyday, an average of 8 babies are affected by Spina Bifida or a similar birth defect of the brain and spine. Each year, about 3,000 pregnancies are affected by these birth defects.

The Challenges of Spina Bifida

The effects of Spina Bifida are different for every person. Up to 90 percent of children with the worst form of Spina Bifida have hydrocephalus (fluid on the brain) and must have surgery to insert a “shunt” that helps drain the fluid—the shunt stays in place for the lifetime of the person. Other conditions include full or partial paralysis, bladder and bowel control difficulties, learning disabilities, depression, latex allergy and social and sexual issues.

Thanks to new medical treatments and technology, most people born with Spina Bifida can expect to live a normal life. People with Spina Bifida have many special challenges because of their birth defect, but their condition does not define who they are. People with Spina Bifida have careers, get married and have children just like people who don’t have Spina Bifida.

Answer 3

I hope this helps you, it was explained to me as the open exposure of the spinal column. My father had a terrible birth mark on his lower back that was raised and red and about the size of a silver dollar maybe a little larger, and when my sister and I became pregnant our family doctor told us that what our dad had was probably a case of spinal bifida but, it wasn't totally exposed and he was normal so it was deadened spinal cord tissue that formed the birth mark, but we had to be aware that spinal bifida could be a possibility in our children's births. I hope that helps you. You should really read about Jimbo Colever he was a Chicago Bear and his son was born with Spina bifida and he has done a lot of work with the organizations.

Answer 4

In the early fetal stage, one of the major organs developing is the neural tube that develops to form and enclose the brain and spine. It develops within the first 30 days of pregnancy. If the neural tube does not develop properly, a baby can be born with abnormalities of the spine, spinal cord and coverings of the spinal cord, including the skin, as well as brain and skull abnormalities.

Babies with brain and skull defects usually die soon after birth. Babies with spinal deformities can live much longer, however, often times, parts of the spinal column are exposed and the spine itself can be malformed. In addition to the deformities spina bifuda causes, these children may be predisposed to infection of the spinal column and their odds of living long and productive lives are not good.

The source listed here is actually posted by a law firm that is looking for clients, but it has a good layman's description of the condition and at least one of its proximate causes (lack of folic acid).

Answer 5

Briefly describes the disorder in which a person's spine failed to close properly while still a fetus, resulting in damage to the nerves and spinal cord