Spina Bifida News and Research

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Spina bifida is a neural tube defect that happens in the first month of pregnancy when the spinal column does not close completely. According to the Mayo Clinic, approximately one in every 2,000 children born in the U.S. is diagnosed with spina bifida. Risk factors include the presence of a neural tube defect in a previous child, lack of folic acid, some medications, diabetes and the mother's age. Most patients with spina bifida have neurogenic bladders. Neurogenic bladders function poorly and over time, without correction, can result in kidney damage and ultimately kidney failure.

New battery-free implant allows users to monitor their bladder fullness in real time

Should you run to the bathroom now? Or can you hold it until you get home? A new implant and associated smartphone app may someday remove the guess work from the equation.

26 Mar 2024

Revolutionary stem cell culture method produces full model of human central nervous system

The first stem cell culture method that produces a full model of the early stages of the human central nervous system has been developed by a team of engineers and biologists at the University of Michigan, the Weizmann Institute of Science, and the University of Pennsylvania.

26 Feb 2024

Scientists regenerate fully functional urinary bladder tissue using a non-human primate model

Scientists from Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and Northwestern University succeeded in regenerating fully functional urinary bladder tissue in a long-term study utilizing a non-human primate model.

30 Jan 2024

Imbalances in folic acid and vitamin B12 can alter brain development in mice

Folate is a B vitamin and a necessary nutrient to prevent neural tube defects, such as spina bifida. Folic acid, a synthetic form of folate, has been added to vitamins, breakfast cereals and other products in the U.S. and more than 80 other countries to ensure pregnant women get adequate amounts.

4 Jan 2024

UW-Madison technology unveils autism gene's impact on early brain structure

Technology developed at the University of Wisconsin–Madison to grow "rosettes" of brain and spinal tissue gives scientists new ways to study the growing human brain, including a recent study of how genetic mutations linked to autism affect early stages of human brain development.

20 Dec 2023

Falling folate levels sound alarm for urgent UK food fortification

A study from the University of Cambridge used UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey data from 2008-2019 to examine folate levels, particularly in females of reproductive age. The study found a significant decline in both RBC and serum folate concentrations across all age groups, emphasizing the need for mandatory folic acid fortification in the UK.

16 Oct 2023

Journal of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine publishes supplement on spina bifida research and care

A supplement to the Journal of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine (JPRM) published by IOS Press, presents a compendium of abstracts from the 2023 World Congress on Spina Bifida Research and Care.

20 Sep 2023

Hispanic births with neural tube defects not significantly reduced after voluntary folic acid fortification of corn masa flour

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandated folic acid fortification of all enriched cereal grains in 1996, and this regulation resulted in a reduction of neural tube defect (NTD)–affected pregnancies for the population in the United States.

2 Jun 2023

$Is there an association between residential proximity to fracking sites and birth defects?$

Is there an association between residential proximity to fracking sites and birth defects?

Study explores the incidence of birth defects in children born to mothers residing within 10 km of fracking sites.

19 Apr 2023

Legal questions, inquiries intensify around Noble Health’s rural Missouri hospital closures

A year after private equity-backed Noble Health shuttered two rural Missouri hospitals, patients and former employees grapple with a broken local health system or missing out on millions in unpaid wages and benefits.

23 Mar 2023

Researchers investigate the potential effect of folic acid supplementation on DNA mutation rates

It is well established that folic acid supplementation can significantly reduce the risk of birth defects, including neural tube defects like spina bifida, the most common birth defect of the central nervous system and the second most common of all structural birth defects.

6 Mar 2023

Review: Latest findings in the spina bifida-related care of many comorbidities

Open spina bifida (SB), a neural tube defect (NTD), also known as myelomeningocele, remains the most complex congenital abnormality of the central nervous system compatible with long term survival.

21 Feb 2023

Second patient receives landmark fetal surgery and stem cell procedure

At Michelle Johnson's 20-week ultrasound, she received the distressing news that her developing baby was diagnosed with myelomeningocele, also known as spina bifida.

11 Oct 2022

Landmark clinical trial aims to treat spina bifida before birth

Three babies have been born after receiving the world's first spina bifida treatment combining surgery with stem cells. This was made possible by a landmark clinical trial at UC Davis Health.

7 Oct 2022

Mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid has potential to prevent neural tube defects

The UK Government's current proposal to fortify one type of flour with folic acid is inadequate as it suggests a low dose that would fail to prevent hundreds of cases of severe birth defects each year, according to a new paper by UCL's Professor Sir Nicholas Wald.

22 Aug 2022

East African newborns nearly five times more likely to have neural tube defects

Newborns, whose brains, spines or spinal cords do not properly develop in utero, can be born with neural tube defects (NTD), increasing their risk of physical disabilities, intellectual impairments and death.

30 Jun 2022

Taking valproic acid during pregnancy can cause birth defects, study shows

Valproic acid-; a drug used to treat epilepsy, migraine, and bipolar disorder-; can cause birth defects when taken during pregnancy.

14 Jun 2022

Researchers use machine learning to shed light on genetic mutations linked with spina bifida

Weill Cornell Medicine researchers are using machine learning, a form of artificial intelligence, to shed light on genetic mutations associated with spina bifida.

20 Dec 2021

Special type of stem cell can reduce the amount of HIV virus

In a groundbreaking study, a team of UC Davis researchers has discovered a special type of stem cell that can reduce the amount of the virus causing AIDS, boosting the body's antiviral immunity and repairing and restoring the gut's lymphoid follicles damaged by the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), the equivalent of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in non-human primates.

24 Jun 2021

3D-printed fetus models allow surgeons to identify potential obstacles, reduce risks of surgery

A state-of-the-art in-utero procedure allows surgeons to correct a birth defect on developing babies inside the womb. But operating on a mother and her unborn child at the same time can be challenging and unpredictable.

7 May 2021