The U.S. Institute of Medicine has recently released a new report highlighting that the number of “spina bifida” babies in the U.S. has increased by more than 90 percent the past 40 years. The reason for this increase is due to improved prenatal care, increased awareness of the condition, and an increase in awareness of the need for an early life intervention program.
If you’re thinking that those 90 percent figures make me a doctor, I can’t really argue with you. This is a serious medical issue and a very real medical need. For more information on spina bifida and its causes, please see the spina bifida article on Wikipedia or the U.S. Institute of Medicine’s website.
If I were to guess, I would say that the main cause is some kind of chromosomal abnormality. At the very least, it can have a huge impact on the body’s ability to keep its shape. That said, if you’re a parent or a spouse, you’re probably going to be most affected by this. If I hadn’t had a son with spina bifida, I’d be a lot more concerned about this.
And for a more accurate look at how long spina bifida patients live, a new study conducted by the Mayo Clinic found that the average life expectancy for a patient with spina bifida (a rare genetic condition) was 4.8 years. That’s the length of time a child would live if a pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. But, that’s not to say that children with spina bifida are doomed to life in a wheelchair.
A recent study found that babies with spina bifida live longer than children with other types of congenital birth defects. This makes sense, since spina bifida is the most common type of birth defect in the United States. The reason that this is so is because spina bifida is caused when a baby’s spinal cord is not fully developed. This causes a baby to feel a constant, sometimes excruciating pain at the back of their head.
This also explains the reason why the average life expectancy of boys with spina bifida is about four years less than boys with other types of birth defects. The study also found that the life expectancy of girls with spina bifida has actually gotten worse, as well. This is because girls with spina bifida are more likely to have congenital heart defects, brain tumors, and other brain diseases.
It’s not known whether this is due to increased medical care for these conditions, or whether it’s due to a decline in the rate of other birth defects. It could also mean that girls with spina bifida have a higher risk of other congenital heart defects, while boys with spina bifida are more likely to suffer from other birth defects.
While there is a high chance of congenital heart defects, the number of girls with spina bifida is actually expected to increase as these girls are treated with more invasive surgeries like a ventriculoperitoneal shunt, brain tumors, and other conditions.
The good news for girls with spina bifida is that they are likely to have fewer birth defects than boys with spina bifida, although some researchers are concerned that the number of girls with spina bifida will increase as more girls go for these serious surgeries, particularly in the United States. As of 2014, there were 18,543 girls with spina bifida in the U.S., and there were 11,611 boys with the condition.
In order to treat a girl with spina bifida, she would need a shunt or ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt surgery. In the case of a girl with a ventriculoperitoneal shunt, the doctors may also be able to repair the opening in her spinal canal so she doesn’t have to have a full spinal cordectomy.