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قديم 12-19-2009, 03:28 PM
الصورة الرمزية الصحفي الطائر
الصحفي الطائر الصحفي الطائر غير متواجد حالياً
عضو ذهبي
 
تاريخ التسجيل: Mar 2008
المشاركات: 3,060
افتراضي Campaign focuses on spinal deformity

 

Campaign focuses on spinal deformity

Nuha Adlan | Arab News

RIYADH: The Spina Bifida Saudi Support Group (SBSSG) began Thursday a national campaign to raise awareness about this spinal deformity that occurs during gestation often caused by a folic acid deficiency among expecting mothers.
The National Campaign to Raise Awareness of Folic Acid in Riyadh will last for two weeks and take place in various malls throughout the Kingdom.
The organization wants to drive home the fact that pregnant women should ensure adequate folic acid in their diets because it reduced the chances of the severely deforming condition by 50 to 70 percent.
Dr. Ahmad Al-Shammari, the chairman of the SBSSG board of directors, said this campaign is significant because it educates members of the public about something that is “brand new” for many of them.
“The Spina Bifida Saudi Support Group is ultimately responsible for raising the level of awareness of the importance of folic acid and to stress that we can avoid a lot of disabilities by taking an amount of it before and during pregnancy,” said Al-Shammari.
Dr. Abdullah Al-Subai, SBSSG deputy, mentioned that this campaign is not only important to raise awareness.
“The campaign is also important to evaluate people’s knowledge of folic acid,” he said. “According to statistics, one in every 1,000 newborn babies has spina bifida. Last year, 500,000 babies were born in the Kingdom. It means that about 500 of the newborns have spina bifida and most of them will join their peers in wheelchairs.”
Spina bifida is caused when the spinal column doesn’t completely develop, resulting in congenital spinal defect. Depending on where on the spine the defect occurs the results can range from deformed vestigial lower limbs to babies born with excessive fluid on their brains.
Children can be born with horrible limb deformities and places around the spine that are open and exposed that need to be closed surgically immediately after birth.
The recommended daily intake of folic acid for pregnant women is 400 micrograms, according to the doctor, who also recommends women planning to get pregnant to begin this dietary intake and to continue the intake, especially in the first three months of pregnancy.
The best way to take folic acid is to eat green vegetables, and doctors recommend that women take folic acid as a dietary supplement in case they are not consuming enough of it in their diets.
In 2001, Saudi Arabia implemented adding folic acid fortification to flour processed in country. This means bread made from locally milled is guaranteed to contain folic acid



Saturday 19 December 2009 (02 Muharram 1431).

 

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