"Primary care practitioners are ideally situated to carry out health
promotion activities. Neural tube defects are of a fairly low incidence,
but the consequences are tragic. They range from life long physical and
often intellectual disabilities, to death at birth. Increased folate
intake, either through eating folate rich foods or through
supplementation, has been shown to reduce the incidence of neural tube
defects in newborns by up to 75%.
Encouraging all women of
child-bearing age to increase their folate intake could thus prevent a
significant number of neural tube defects occurring in the Australian
population."
...
Although there have been sufficient cases of neural tube defects, the most well known is perhaps spina bifida.
Spina
bifida is a condition there the spinal cord is no longer protected by
skin cover and can even protrude from the spinal column to create
impairment of normal functions and often paralysis.
One of the
causes of this condition is known to be a deficiency of folic acid or
folate, one of the vitamin B complex group, in the diet of the mother
and therefore unavailable to the developing foetus.
The first
three months of pregnancy is the vital time when the need is greatest to
avert abnormalities and avoid neural tube defects. The first three
months of pregnancy are always important for the mother and in the case
of this particular problem, can be the period of attention to the
nutritional needs of the developing infant that will prevent problems or
by neglect in the mother's diet, set the stage as one of the causes. It
is vital that women are aware that by inclusion of folate rich
ingredients in early pregnancy, any difficulties and any anxiety about a
potential problem, can be avoided.
If an infant with serious case
of spina bifida survives their birth, this is not the end of the
problem for all concerned. The mother will begin an extremely demanding
role in nursing and applying what required adjustments are necessary for
its care. Other children in the family may suffer a degree of neglect
and both individual suffering and the family suffering will continue
with ongoing difficulties as any medical treatment as yet is not able to
provide a cure. Ongoing research includes trialling a technique of stem
cell transplantation and other experimental methods can only offer a
potential degree of relief.
The vulnerable damaged neural cells in
these conditions such as spina bifida contribute to various symptoms
such as reduced motor skills, lack of control of bowel and bladder
functions, diminished sensory function and mental retardation. It is not
a happy future for the infant or for its parents and carers.
It
becomes imperative that all young women and those of childbearing age
should be aware of the health responsibility by sufficient inclusion of
folic acid rich foods in their normal diet, and intensively in the first
three month period.
A simple solution can often produce profound
benefits. Although it may be only one of the causative factors behind
neural birth defects, eating sufficient fresh fruits and vegetables,
nuts and grains as well as specific items and supplementary folate as
our national nutritionists and natural therapists advise, is a positive
step to ensure a healthy baby.
