Epidemiological studies of neural tube defects in Newfoundland.
A 9-year survey of neural tube defects in Newfoundland showed (1) evidence for secular variation, with a peak in 1980, but no general downward trend as seen in some other populations; (2) significant geographic variation which did not correlate with hardness or nitrate content of the lake water; (3) a tendency for the proportion of females among anencephalic births to increase with increasing frequency of anencephaly among geographic regions. This supports previous evidence for a female-specific contribution to the causes of increased liability to neural tube defect.
Frecker
M
M
Division of Community Medicine, Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada.
Fraser
F C
FC
D000022:Abortion, Spontaneous; D000757:Anencephaly / Q000453:epidemiology; D003710:Demography; D004677:Encephalocele / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D009523:Newfoundland and Labrador; D011247:Pregnancy; D012744:Sex Ratio; D016136:Spina Bifida Occulta / Q000453:epidemiology