Risk of anenceply in migrant and non-migrant women in the Oxford area.

Hobbs, Michael

doi:10.1136/jech.23.3.174

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…In addition, the data indicate that women born in the former two countries have carried with them the risk of their birthplace, which has been maintained in the local environment. This provides support for the hypothesis that events early in a mother's life, or "intergenerational" factors, play an etiological role in these defects (Hobbs, 1969;Emanuel and Sever, 1973;Janerich, 1974;Sever, 1978).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 55%

Risk factors in the prevalence of anencephalus and spina bifida in New Zealand

Smith

Jk³

1986

Teratology

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This paper presents results from an epidemiological study on the 51 anencephalus and 53 spina bifida cases in the 1978 New Zealand birth cohort. Multiple sources were used in the ascertainment, and the prevalence rates were 0.98 and 1.02 per 1,000 total births, respectively. No association was found with the traditional indicators of the effect of environmental factors: maternal age, social class, nuptiality, month of birth, or estimated month of conception. Males comprised 41% of anencephalus and 36% of spina bifida cases; the prevalence was higher in the non-Maori than in the Maori population. New Zealand-born mothers appear to have a much lower risk of spina bifida, but not anencephaly, than those born in England/Scotland. The rate for the latter population was within the range of a number of UK-based studies. As the bloodstock of New Zealand whites has been predominantly derived from the UK population, and as New Zealand is a low prevalence area, this suggests that the higher risk for these women is likely to be attributable to factors present in their birthplace but absent in New Zealand. These findings provide further evidence that the epidemiologic patterns of anencephalus and spina bifida in low-prevalence areas are at variance with those in high-prevalence areas, such as the United Kingdom. They also support the hypothesis that the contrast in rates between high- and low-prevalence areas is a reflection of the impact of environmental factors in high-prevalence areas on the "background" or baseline frequency of anencephalus and spina bifida found in low-prevalence areas.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 55%

Risk factors in the prevalence of anencephalus and spina bifida in New Zealand

Smith

Jk³

1986

Teratology

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“…Studies of immigrant communities in Israel (Halevi, 1967), Australia (Collmann and Stoller, 1968), Canada (Horowitz and McDonald, 1969), the United States (Alter, 1962;Cassady, 1969, Milic, 1969, and England (Leck, 1969;Hobbs, 1969) have demonstrated differences in incidence between these populations compared with those in their countries of origin. Some comparisons are therefore made between Belfast and the survey of 305 anencephalics, 393 infants with spina bifida, and 1,041 control (live and still) births of 20 or more weeks' gestation which occurred in four large hospitals in Boston, Massachusetts (Naggan and MacMahon, 1967).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anencephalus in Belfast. Incidence and secular and seasonal variations, 1950-66.

Elwood¹

1970

Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health

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“…In the descendants of Caucasian migrants, the incidence of neural tube defects may change from the observed pattern in their own country of origin towards that shown by the rest of the local population, suggesting an important environmental influence, but the fact that this occurs more slowly in those of West African origin suggests that in them genetic influences are much more important. Hobbs (1969) showed that women born in Oxford, an area with a comparatively low rate of anencephalus, had lower rates from this cause than women resident in Oxford, who were reared in areas where the rate of anencephalus is high. This difference persists after adjustments have been made for social class.…”

Section: Genetic Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Epidemiology of congenital malformations of the central nervous system in (a) Aberdeen and (b) Scotland

Baird¹

1974

J. Biosoc. Sci.

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The incidence of anencephalus and other malformations of the central nervous system (CNS) is much higher in the United Kingdom than in other countries of Western Europe which were not industrialized to the same extent. In the UK the incidence is highest in the unskilled manual occupational group, especially in the large cities of the North of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Standards of living have been low in these areas for many years and deteriorated sharply at the time of the worldwide industrial depression from 1928 to 1934. The population tended to be stunted in stature and to show other signs of chronic malnutrition.The cohort of women born in these years had an unusually high stillbirth rate from anencephalus (and from all other CNS malformations) from about 1946 onwards. It was highest in the early 1960s when these women were at the peak of their reproductive activity. This suggests that the severe malnutrition to which they were subjected before and soon after birth resulted in severe damage, which reduced their reproductive efficiency as demonstrated by the unusually high perinatal death rate from all CNS malformations. Not surprisingly the death rate rose sooner, lasted longer and reached a higher level in social classes IV and V than in social classes I and II. Other evidence of damage was an increase in the incidence of low birth weight babies with a corresponding increase in the perinatal death rate from this cause.In Scotland the stillbirth rate from anencephalus was approximately 2-1 per 1000 in 1948^9,3-4 at its highest point between 1961 and 1963and2-l in 1968, by which time the women born in the years of the depression had completed their childbearing. A teratogen acting during a particular period of time could not provide a satisfactory explanation for this sequence of events. 113

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Risk of anenceply in migrant and non-migrant women in the Oxford area.

Cited by 9 publications

References 11 publications

Risk factors in the prevalence of anencephalus and spina bifida in New Zealand

Risk factors in the prevalence of anencephalus and spina bifida in New Zealand

Anencephalus in Belfast. Incidence and secular and seasonal variations, 1950-66.

Epidemiology of congenital malformations of the central nervous system in (a) Aberdeen and (b) Scotland

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