Researchers found that fetal surgery improves the chances of children with spinal bifida to walk and lessens the risk of other neurological complications in comparison to surgery after birth. Spinal bifida is a neural tube defect caused by an opening in the spine. This study focused on children with myelomeningocele, the most common and severe form of spinal bifida. 158 pregnant women who had a fetus diagnosed with this condition participated in this study, and half were assigned to fetal surgery while the other half was assigned to have the procedure after the birth. The results showed that 42 percent of children who had surgery before the birth were able to walk at 30 months, compared to 21 percent of children who had it after the birth. Physicians Joe Simpson and Michael Greene stated that the study "is a major step in the right direction" but that " the degree to which intrauterine repair will transform outcomes for fetuses with myelomeningocele remains unclear."
The experiment performed in this article was an example of discovery science because the researchers gathered information and did this experiment to reach a conclusion. The findings of this experiment are important to human beings because it shows advances in technology that can greatly improve conditions such as spinal bifida.
Author: Nathan Seppa
Title: Prenatal Surgery shows promise
Journal: Science news, page 12
Date published: March 12, 2011
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1 comment:
You may want to reconsider your conclusion that this is an example of Discovery Science, you stated that experiments were performed, one of the requirements of Hypothesis-based Science.
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