There aren’t too many things that I myself don’t know about John Mellencamp, considering I have been a self-proclaimed “Mellenhead” for over 20 years. I feel the public views him as a politically-sparked mid western rocker and song writer whose tunes tell the stories of the common man. He is indeed all of those things, ...
Spina bifida occulta is considered to be the mildest form of the condition. It is estimated 10 t0 20 percent of all humans have this condition but are unaware of it. Most with this form of spina bifida never suffer a complication. However, a small percentage of the people with the condition can suffer drastic ...
People usually have a negative image when you ask them to think about a special needs person. A vision of blank-eyed individuals in wheelchairs is probably the first thing that comes to mind or people lying in nursing home beds. While some of these images are true, there are several people in the world living ...
I was nineteen years old and pregnant with our third child. I remember the day I found out Noel was going to be born with a birth defect so clearly; it use to make me angry. I was sitting in the waiting area to have my ultrasound and trying to drink enough liquids to make ...
I signed the consent form and my blood was drawn for the quad screen on a Tuesday. We had the test done during my first two pregnancies, and there wasn’t any question about whether to have it done this time or not. Honestly, I don’t even remember giving it much thought the first two times ...
One of the most common birth defects is the neural tube defect (NTD), which affects 1 in 1,000 births. Very early in a pregnancy, usually by the second week, specialized cells begin the fusing procedure. This is gastrulation, and cells on the dorsal side of the fetus begin to fuse and form a neural tube. ...
With the incidence of spina bifida, in the United States, significantly decreasing each year, the risk to unborn children still exists and remains at the forefront of obstetric care. As part of a comprehensive plan for pregnancy, obstetricians are now recommending pre-pregnancy tests and dietary supplements in an effort to further reduce the risk and ...
Spina Bifida is a range of birth defects within the central nervous system. Many people have never heard of it, yet its occurrence rates are higher than many may think. In North America, Spina Bifida occurs in one out of every 700 birthdays to whites, and one in every 3,000 births to African Americans. In ...
The spinal cord is located in the dural tube, which is actually a fluid-filled sac inside the spinal column. This spinal fluid protects the spinal cord and keeps it from rubbing against or touching the dural tube. When the spinal cord becomes attached to a structure such as one of the vertebrae in the spinal ...
