Baby Nicholas Coke survived two years with his condition
Miracles do happen and life for a baby boy in Colorado, USA, is a miracle because he was born without a brain. His life is inspirational because he lived past two years when most babies with his condition perish within hours.
Nicholas Coke has a rare condition, which is a genetic disease known as Anencephaly—the absence of a huge part of the brain and skull. Basically Nicholas lived with no brain — just a brain stem. Sheena, the baby’s mother, shared: “He can’t see, he can’t hear, he can’t suck. He doesn’t crawl, doesn’t sit up. He’s a miracle. He’s changed so many lives.”
Causes and risk factors
The condition that baby Nicholas has is actually the most common of neural tube defects, which affects tissue that grows into the spinal cord and brain. It is a birth defect and happens early in the yet-to-be born baby. The exact cause of this condition is not known but environmental toxins, lack of folic acid during pregnancy are possible causes.
According to PubMed Heath, specializing in reviews of clinical effectiveness research, Anencephaly takes place 1 out of 10,000 births. However, since many of these pregnancies result in a miscarriage, the exact number cannot be calculated. “Having one infant with this condition increases the risk of having another child with neural tube defects,” states the site.
Prevention
An ultrasound during pregnancy can be done to confirm the diagnosis. Other tests that can be performed are Amniocentesis, Alpha-fetoprotein level, Urine estriol level and a pre-pregnancy serum folic acid test. The bad news is… there is no treatment for this condition and the prognosis is not great—death within days.
Just so you know, the condition can usually be detected during a routine prenatal testing and ultrasound or it is seen at birth. Consumption of folic acid is essential for ladies that are looking to get pregnant. Apparently, folic acid is known to help lessen the risk of certain birth defects (neural tube defects by 50%) and Anencephaly is one of them.
For more related articles on babies and newborns, see:
Good sleep habits for your newborn
What’s normal and what’s not in your newborn