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May 31, 2005
Little Mermaid
In a world filled with scientific progress, you would think to see the decrease of birth defects, wouldn’t you? Unfortunately developing countries are still struggling with certain birth defects, despite medical breakthroughs here in our own country. While I am familiar with birth defects and their rarities, I have never heard of the mermaid syndrome, and I certainly wasn’t aware that it occurs one in every 70,000 births! Exactly what is it that we are doing to our bodies and our environment that creates these defects? And more to the point, why do we spend more time destroying lives instead of trying to save them? Maybe one day we will live in a world where our priorities will center on healing instead of hurting. This reminds me of how lucky I am to have relatively healthy children, and how all of the medical issues my daughter has are minor compared to what “The Little Mermaid” has ahead of her.
Posted by dvaldesd at May 31, 2005 11:41 AM
Comments
That is sad. I know a little boy who was born with a small bladder and urethra, and an imperforate anus. He had to have three surgeries, too. And as far as I know, he is doing well despite the fact that his body and natural abilities in doing things, like children his age, developed at an extremely slower rate. So these congenial malformations are not strictly tied to third-world countries or those countries that are considered poor and impoverished compared to the U.S. It's probably linked to some hereditary gene, stress or the lack of some vitamin that the mother isn't getting during the early stages of pregnancy. In any case, more research needs to be done.
Posted by: digitalpenny at May 31, 2005 06:34 PM