Anencephaly

New research, published by Cell Press in the January 19th issue of the journal Developmental Cell, provides intriguing insight into how the nervous system forms during very early embryonic development.

Exposure to tetrachloroethylene (also known as perchlorethylene, PCE) may cause congenital birth defects. A study of expectant women exposed to PCE in drinking water, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Health, found an increased risk of oral clefts and neural tube defects in their children.

New research out of Wake Forest University School of Medicine provides for the first time a solid scientific answer for the long-standing question of whether there is an association between preterm birth and brain malformations.

Women of childbearing age can reduce the risk of having a child born with a neural tube defect such as spina bifida by eating enough folate or folic acid. However, folate prevents only about 70 percent of these defects.

Diet and nutrition counseling for virtually all overweight and obese women of childbearing age can reduce health risks associated with excess weight for mothers and children alike, according to a newly released position paper from the American Dietetic Association and the American Society of Nutrition.

Immigrant women are less likely to use folic acid supplements before pregnancy to prevent spina bifida, particularly those who recently immigrated to the country, according to a new study led by a St. Michael's Hospital physician in collaboration with Statistics Canada, Health Canada and the University of Toronto.

Children born to women who have low blood levels of vitamin B12 shortly before and after conception may have an increased risk of a neural tube defect, according to an analysis by researchers at the National Institutes of Health, Trinity College Dublin, and the Health Research Board of Ireland.

Fortification of corn masa flour products could increase folic acid intake by nearly 20 percent for Mexican-Americans, who are at a 30-40 percent higher risk for a number of severe brain and spinal birth defects, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Organs, such as the brain or the heart, are not simply collections of the correct types of cells that are required for their function. If these cells are not organized and shaped properly, the organ simply does not function. One crucial part of this organization is to bend sheets of connected cells ("epithelia") so that they form a structure that is an integral part of the functional organ.