What Is Spina Bifida?
Spina bifida occulta is the mildest and most common form. The spinal defect is hidden under the skin and does not usually cause problems or need treatment. Doctors estimate that up to 24% of the general population unknowingly have this spinal defect.2 In some cases, a dimple, depression, birthmark, or hairy patch forms over the skin where more than one vertebra is affected. This is referred to as occult spinal dysraphism (OSD).
Spina bifida manifesta is the rare form of this birth defect. It can be separated into two classes, meningocele and myelomeningocele. In meningocele, fluid leaks out of the spinal canal, causing a swollen area over the baby's spine. In many cases, meningocele causes no symptoms.
Myelomeningocele is the most rare and severe form of spina bifida. This is the form most people mean when they say "spina bifida." In myelomeningocele (also called meningomyelocele), a segment of the spinal nerves pushes out of the spinal canal against the underside of the skin. The nerves are often damaged. In the worst cases, the skin is open and the nerves are exposed to the outside of the body. Meningomyelocele is often associated with nerve damage that can result in problems with walking, bladder control, and coordination.
What causes spina bifida?
Doctors do not know the exact cause of spina bifida but believe that both genetic and environmental factors are involved. Women who have had one child with spina bifida are more likely to have another child with spina bifida. Fathers are also capable of being the cause of Spina Bifida. Other factors that may increase the risk for having a baby with spina bifida include:
* Having folic acid deficiency.
* Taking certain medicines, such as some used to treat epilepsy or acne.
* Excessive use of alcohol.
* Exposure to certain chemicals.
* Exposure to high temperatures.
* Having diabetes.
* Being obese.
There is more information on this disability at www.webmd.com and www.sba.com
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When you smoke in public you are not the only one that pays for it.
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Secondhand smoke has been classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a known cause of cancer in humans
Secondhand smoke exposure causes disease and premature death in children and adults who do not smoke. Secondhand smoke contains hundreds of chemicals known to be toxic or carcinogenic, including formaldehyde, benzene, vinyl chloride, arsenic ammonia and hydrogen cyanide.
Secondhand smoke causes approximately 3,400 lung cancer deaths and 22,700-69,600 heart disease deaths in adult nonsmokers in the United States each year.
Nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke at work are at increased risk for adverse health effects. Levels of secondhand smoke in restaurants and bars were found to be 2 to 5 times higher than in residences with smokers and 2 to 6 times higher than in office workplaces.
Secondhand smoke exposure may cause buildup of fluid in the middle ear, resulting in 790,000 physician office visits per year.10 Secondhand smoke can also aggravate symptoms in 400,000 to 1,000,000 children with asthma.
In the United States, 21 million, or 35 percent of, children live in homes where residents or visitors smoke in the home on a regular basis. Approximately 50-75 percent of children in the United States have detectable levels of cotinine, the breakdown product of nicotine in the blood.
Research indicates that private research conducted by cigarette company Philip Morris in the 1980s showed that secondhand smoke was highly toxic, yet the company suppressed the finding during the next two decades.
The current Surgeon General's Report concluded that scientific evidence indicates that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Short exposures to secondhand smoke can cause blood platelets to become stickier, damage the lining of blood vessels, decrease coronary flow velocity reserves, and reduce heart rate variability, potentially increasing the risk of heart attack.
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You can wait until you get home to smoke, but I cannot wait until I get home to breath.
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