“More than 4 million people in the United States have glaucoma and about 35% have related vision loss. Both total glaucoma and vision-affecting glaucoma vary by demographic factors.
Glaucoma is called “the sneak thief of sight” since there are no symptoms and once vision is lost, it’s permanent. As much as 40% of vision can be lost without a person noticing.”
Glaucoma Research Foundation (January Is Glaucoma Awareness Month – Glaucoma Research Foundation)
“Some types of glaucoma are caused by other medical conditions — but for other people, the doctor doesn’t find another condition that causes it. When the doctor doesn’t find another cause, it’s called primary glaucoma.
Sometimes glaucoma is caused by another medical condition — this is called secondary glaucoma.”
National Eye Institute – NIH (Types of Glaucoma | National Eye Institute)
“In most children, the cause of tetralogy of Fallot isn’t known. It’s a common type of heart defect. It may be seen more commonly in children with Down syndrome or DiGeorge syndrome. Some children can have other heart defects along with tetralogy of Fallot. Infants and young children with unrepaired tetralogy of Fallot are often blue (cyanotic-not enough oxygen getting to their tissues).”
AHA American Heart Association (www.heart.org/en/health-topics/congenital-heart-defects/about-congenital-heart-defects)
“The ductus arteriosus is a normal fetal artery connecting the aorta and the main lung artery (pulmonary artery). The ductus allows blood to detour away from the lungs before birth.
Every baby is born with a ductus arteriosus. After birth, the opening is no longer needed and it usually narrows and closes within the first few days.
Sometimes, the ductus doesn’t close after birth. Failure of the ductus to close is common in premature infants but rare in full-term babies. In most children, the cause of Patent Ductus Arteriosus-PDA isn’t known. Some children can have other heart defects along with the PDA.
Truncus arteriosus occurs when the two large arteries carrying blood away from the heart don’t form properly and one large artery is present instead. This artery (the truncus) sits over a large opening or hole in the wall between the two pumping chambers (ventricular septal defect). With only one artery, there is no specific path to the lungs for oxygen before returning to the heart to deliver oxygen to the body.”
American Heart Association-AHA (www.heart.org/en/health-topics/congenital-heart-defects/about-congenital-heart-defects)
“Every 4.5 minutes a baby is born with a condition that affects the structure or function of their body. Collectively, these conditions are referred to as birth defects. They can vary widely in how and where they affect the body and include things from cleft lip to heart problems. While medical advancements have greatly improved health and survival, many of these conditions are lifelong and require lifelong care.
Achieving the best possible health will look different for different people. No two people living with these conditions are exactly alike. Everyone’s journey is unique, shaped by their specific condition, individual strengths, and the support system in place. However, a community of support can help people with these conditions no matter what health experiences they are navigating.”
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC
“Congenital heart disease is a heart problem that a person is born with. It means that the heart’s structure — for example, its walls or valves — did not develop properly before birth. More than a million American adults live with congenital heart disease. Many were diagnosed as infants and had surgery or other treatment as a child. Others don’t know they have congenital heart disease until they develop symptoms as adults, like shortness of breath or an abnormal heartbeat.
No matter the cause or the age of diagnosis, people with congenital heart disease need continued care and treatment throughout their lives. It can be difficult for adults to find heart specialists familiar with their particular anatomy and problems–NewYork-Presbyterian has one of the few programs in the country with the depth and breadth of expertise to address the complexity of congenital heart disease in adults.
Our highly trained heart specialists understand congenital heart disease’s unique physiological, anatomical, and clinical features at all ages. Your care team includes physicians, surgeons, and genetic experts specializing in adult congenital heart disease. They’re experts in echocardiography, interventional cardiac catheterization, interventional electrophysiology, complex congenital heart surgery, and heart transplantation.
With this team approach, we address the complex needs of people with adult congenital heart disease at three centers where you can receive treatment in a hospital setting designed for adults without having to stay in a children’s hospital:
New York Presbyterian Hospital
Though not all birth defects can be avoided, prenatal care and awareness of past or current conditions can help with prevention.
It’s not always possible to detect all birth defects in utero. However, high-resolution ultrasounds done by certified prenatal ultrasound groups make it possible to diagnose defects that will cause a significant impact before birth.
Baschat says: “At the Center for Fetal Therapy, we recommend that pregnant women have the first-trimester nuchal translucency scan between 11 and 14 weeks and the anatomy scan between 18 and 20 weeks. These two ultrasounds provide us with the best opportunity for detecting birth defects.”
In recent years, some pregnant women have turned down the first-trimester ultrasound because a maternal screening blood test now exists for Down syndrome. The ultrasound is still strongly recommended, though, because there are many other serious birth defects that can be detected this early in pregnancy.
Absolutely. While there are many different types of birth defects, it’s extremely important to try to correct those that damage vital organs before the baby is born. The Center for Fetal Therapy specializes in treating several of these defects in utero, including:
Fetal treatments also exist for conditions that make the baby unhealthy, even if they are not considered to be birth defects. For example, if a fetus has an irregular heartbeat, you can give the mother medication that will cross the placenta and treat the fetus.
By treating fetal conditions in utero rather than waiting until after birth, fetuses are given significantly better chances of survival and a reduced need for major surgery after birth. For example, with a condition like twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, in which identical twins develop a blood volume imbalance, both babies could die without any intervention. By performing laser surgery in utero, there is approximately a 95 percent chance that at least one baby will survive.
Explains Baschat, “Success rates vary depending on the condition, available treatments and the individual patient, but overall, where fetal interventions are available, we see a much higher rate of survival for affected fetuses.”
This will depend on the individual condition and type of surgery performed. For all fetal surgeries, your baby needs to be delivered at a hospital where pediatric subspecialties are in-house so the baby’s care can be managed after birth. Baschat says: “Many of the treatments we perform require patients to deliver at the highest-level multispecialty hospital, like The Johns Hopkins Hospital. This way, all prenatal and postnatal care is available to you in one location.”
All future children will not definitively be affected by the same birth defect, but it will depend on what the cause was. If the birth defect was caused by a genetic mutation, there may be a higher likelihood of recurrence, but if you seek care from a specialized center, maternal-fetal medicine specialists and genetic counselors can work with you to assess future risk.
The risk of some conditions can be determined before you become pregnant through genetic testing. If that doesn’t exist for the condition in question, maternal-fetal medicine specialists and genetic counselors can genetically test your fetus during pregnancy to see if she or he exhibits the mutation that affected your previous child.
There are many forums online, whether on the web or social media platforms, in which parents come together. “At our center, we reach out to previous patients to see if they are interested in communicating with new patients affected by the same condition,” Baschat explains. “They can empathize about the specific birth defect, but they can also provide guidance and advice about the experience of working with our center throughout the pregnancy and after the baby is born.”
Through prenatal diagnosis and understanding fetal disease better, physicians are learning more about what harms the fetus and what may be of benefit before birth. Additionally, new uses for minimally invasive surgical equipment are regularly being discovered.
There are also stem cell therapies, genomic medicine and a whole host of related treatments that are currently used for children and adults. One day, these may also apply to the fetus. “While it’s hard to predict the future, we’re currently doing things we couldn’t have foreseen 10 years ago, so we’re very hopeful for continued advancements in fetal care,” says Baschat.
“Vitiligo is a skin condition that has impacted millions of people worldwide. It affects people of all ages and genders. Vitiligo is a chronic skin condition that causes loss of natural pigment of the skin and results in the appearance of light-colored or white spots on arms, legs, and other parts of the body. Although it is not a life-threatening condition, vitiligo can significantly impact a person’s self-esteem, clothing choices, and quality of life.”
PERFECTFAQS (PerfectFaqs.com | Perfectly Curated, Fact-checked Blogs For You)
Vitiligo (vit-uh-lie-go) causes the skin to lose its natural color. Patches of lighter skin appear. Some people develop a few patches. Others lose much more skin color.
Vitiligo can also affect other parts of your body. A section of hair can turn white. Some people lose color inside their mouths. Even an eye can lose some of its color.
What causes this color loss is still a mystery. We do know that vitiligo is not contagious. It is not life-threatening.
But vitiligo can be life-altering. Some people develop low self-esteem. They may no longer want to hang out with friends. They can develop serious depression. Most people have vitiligo for life, so it’s important to develop coping strategies.
A coping strategy that helps many people is to learn about vitiligo. Another helpful strategy is to connect with others who have vitiligo.
Up to 2% of the population and an estimated 2 to 5 million Americans have the condition. It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman.
In most cases, it develops early in life, between ages 10 and 30. It will almost always show up before age 40.
You’ll often lose pigment quickly on several areas of your skin. After the white patches appear, they may stay the same for a while, but later on, they might get bigger. You may have cycles of pigment loss and stability.
Vitiligo commonly affects body folds (such as armpits), places that have been injured in the past, and areas exposed to sun, around moles, or around body openings. It can also affect eyelids and hair.
Your doctor can usually make a diagnosis of vitiligo by looking at your skin during a physical exam.
There’s no known way to prevent or cure the condition. But you can improve the appearance of affected skin with cosmetics and corticosteroid creams. Your doctor can also try re-pigmenting the white skin using UV light therapy or lightening the skin in unaffected areas, or a skin graft.
“National Blood Donor Month is a time to recognize the selfless contributions of the roughly 7 million people across the country who give blood each year. Their simple yet profound decision has saved countless lives. We encourage all eligible individuals to join the ranks of America’s blood donors and make a lifesaving impact in someone’s time of need,” said Kate Fry, CEO of America’s Blood Centers.
This National Blood Donor Month, the blood community says thank you to the millions of blood donors throughout the United States. Your gift provides essential medicine for patients in need,” said Debra BenAvram, chief executive officer of AABB. “Blood is an essential part of health care and is needed every day. We encourage eligible Americans to start the new year off by making an appointment to donate blood today.”
“We are grateful to those who generously roll up a sleeve for patients in need,” said Chris Hrouda, president of American Red Cross Biomedical Services. “Even as we see the donor base decline, the American Red Cross recognizes and celebrates our dedicated blood and platelet donors who are giving more often today than past decades. This National Blood Donor Month, please join us in our mission that truly helps save lives.”
President Richard Nixon proclaimed January 1970 as the first National Blood Donor Month on December 31, 1969, as requested by Senate Joint Resolution 154, to pay tribute to voluntary blood donors and encourage new donors to join. This month continues to be celebrated each year to thank America’s blood donors and encourage more people to donate blood.
Blood transfusion remains one of the most common hospital procedures, with patients requiring a blood transfusion every two seconds. More than 42,000 units of red blood cells, platelets, and plasma are used by patients every day.”
American Red Cross (Blood Community Unites to Recognize Donors Ahead of National Blood Donor Month in January)