Folic acid and neural tube defects.To the Editor: Another good issue of the Southern Medical Journal arrived today. I enjoyed reading about Marion Sims. I was particularly interested in the article by Hauser et al (1) concerning folic acid folic acid: see coenzyme; vitamin. folic acid or folate Organic compound essential to animal growth and health and needed by bacteria as a growth factor. and the prevention of neural tube defects Neural tube defects A group of birth defects that affect the backbone and sometimes the spinal chord. Mentioned in: Birth Defects . The history of our gradual understanding of the role of folic acid in helping to prevent neural tube defects is a fascinating one. These devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. defects--such as anencephaly anencephaly /an·en·ceph·a·ly/ (an?en-sef´ah-le) congenital absence of the cranial vault, with the cerebral hemispheres completely missing or reduced to small masses.anencephal´ic an·en·ceph·a·ly n. , encephalocele, spina bifida, and other defects--are now largely preventable. It is such a good example of how we stand on the shoulders of others who have gone before us. Much of this early work was done here at the University of Missouri School of Medicine and the College of Veterinary Medicine veterinary medicine, diagnosis and treatment of diseases of animals. An early interest in animal diseases is found in ancient Greek writings on medicine. Veterinary medicine began to achieve the stature of a science with the organization of the first school in the over 60 years ago. My own Professor of Anatomy, Dr. Milton D. Overholser, collaborated with Whitley, O'Dell, and Hogan hogan Dwelling of the Navajo Indians of Arizona and New Mexico. The hogan is roughly circular and constructed usually of logs, which are stepped in gradually to create a domed roof. in basic research on rat brain defects produced by a deficiency of folic acid in the maternal diet. As the article from Florida indicates, there is still progress to be made in educating the health profession as to the prevention of neural tube defects by the consumption of folic acid by women during their pregnancy and before. I might add that Dr. O'Dell is still alive and well in his 90s, and living in Columbia. His son was a medical student of mine. Reference 1. Hauser KW, Lilly CM, Frias JL. Florida health care providers' knowledge of folic acid for the prevention of neural tube defects. South Med J 2004;98:437-439. Hugh E. Stephenson, Jr, MD Department of Surgery School of Medicine University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO |
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