Four out of five reach their first birthday, and three out of five reach their 16th. Because neurologic and musculoskeletal deterioration often increase as patients grow older, regular medical followup is important. However, the complexities of treatment often seem overwhelming to the parents, the patient, and sometimes to the physician since so many organ systems are involved, says Dr. Haynes. The knowledge level about spina bifida is rapidly expanding, he added, giving new hope to patients and their families. It is our hope that the future is equally as bright, and that the majority of people with spina bifida can participate in society in a meaningful way.
Researchers attribute the cause to both genetic and environmental factors.
A woman who has given birth to a child with spina bifida has a one in 40 chance of having a second child with the condition, says Dr. Richard Haynes, chief of staff at Shriners Hospital for Children. This statistic supports the belief that spina bifida tends to occur in families, although it does not appear to be attributed to a single gene. For reasons that no one yet understands, spina bifida for years has been more prevalent in Ireland than anywhere else in the world. At one time, it was thought that blighted potatoes might contain a substance causing spina bifida, but experiments in which potatoes were entirely avoided proved this theory false. Although women in the study refrained from eating potatoes, they still had a higher than normal incidence of babies born with spina bifida - five times greater than anywhere else in the world.