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from the some-correlation-is-still-better-than-none dept.
GungnirSniper writes:
"In the US State of Washington, the rare birth defect anencephaly has become slightly more common, worrying would-be parents and baffling epidemiologists. TechTimes.com reports that the health records of a single three-county area in Washington State 'revealed 23 cases of anencephaly in 36 months, between January 2010 and 2013. This translates to a rate of 8.4 births out of every 10,000. That is four times the normal occurrence for the rare disorder.'
A group of epidemiologists working for the state's Department of Health reported finding no clear cause for the exceptional prevalence of this fatal birth defect. But they are now accused of not looking hard enough for the cause. Dr. Beate Ritz, who has done several studies on birth defects, told CNN that the data quality on medical records, which were the primary source of data used in the study, 'is so low that it's not really research'.
Washington's Department of Health has admitted that 'Medical record reviews might not have captured all information, preventing a cause from being identified,' and says its officials will continue monitoring births, and look for possible causes.
(Score: 2, Informative) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday March 03 2014, @09:21AM
My ex-wife's older sister, a deeply faithful member of the Salvation Army church, got the bad news late during her pregnancy that her child was anencephalic.
At least in her case, this could have been prevented by taking Folic Acid. You don't need a prescription, it's over-the-counter, all drugstores will have it, most grocery stores will too.
Ask around among your relatives whether anyone at all - in the entire history of your family as well as your spouse's - has been born with birth defects. If so, take extra, it's safe. A pharmacist will tell you what your dose should be if you need to take extra.
My sister-in-law was faced with the excrutiating decision to have a late-term abortion. Because of her age, that was the last chance for her to have a baby.
Oh yeah to change the subject: I read in the Vancouver Washington paper the other day, that some new liquid radioactive waste tanks at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation are leaking.
I thought that was a solved problem decades ago. My father used to be a Nuclear Engineer for Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California. He told me that when they change the submarine reactor water, they make concrete blocks out of, then the concrete and the cement mixer are all buried at hanford.
Now there are other kinds of liquids, but most liquids will react with SOMETHING to make a solid.
If there is no way to chemically solidify a liquid, you could always freeze it.
I have a major product announcement [warplife.com] coming 5:01 PM 2014-03-21 EST.