Iron and its Relationship to Neural Tube Defects among Offspring of Texas Border County Women

Neural tube defects (NTDs) are major malformations of the developing central nervous system. The most common types are anencephaly and spina bifida. In 1992, a small case-control study in Cameron County, TX by the Texas Department of Health found hematocrit values among women giving birth to babies with anencephaly and any NTDs to be significantly lower (p< 0.01) than among control-women. Those results led to a much larger case-control study designed to ascertain risk factors for NTDs. This study explored whether an association existed between iron and NTDs in 148 cases and 158 controls. Dietary iron intake, blood hemoglobin and hematocrit values, and serum ferritin values were analyzed to see whether case and control values differed. No associations were found between case-women and control-women for dietary iron intake, hemoglobin, or hematocrit. Associations were found between ferritin and NTDs among women with a BMI less than 21.3 and among women less than 24 years of age.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Health Professions

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Health Professions

Grantor

Southwest Texas State University

Year dc:date.issued

2000

Author dc:creator

• Scaife, Barbara D.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Brender, Jean D.

• neural tube
• iron in the body
• borders
• women

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10877/16255

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digital.library.txst.edu:10877/16255