MICROCEPHALY
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Microcephaly is a type neurological disorder in which the brain does not develop normally and the skull is smaller than the normal heads. This disease is usually congenital, that is, it is already present at or before birth, although it can also be developed in the first years of life,
Normally people suffering from this disease suffer problems in the locomotor system and mental disabilities.
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| Differences between the head of a healthy child, one with microcephaly and another with acute microcephaly |
This disease is not only caused by a problem on chromosome 8, but there are other reasons why there have been cases of microcephaly, such as the bite of the Aedes mosquito, who also transmits dengue and chikungunya.
Unfortunately, is no known cure to this disease.
Symptoms: Affected newborns generally have striking neurological defects and seizures. The head of newborns who suffer from microcephaly usually appears with a normal size.
As the body develops, the skull begins to remain small compared to the face and other features of the body. Seizures are common. the problems in the locomotor system usually vary, since they can pass from being a simple awkwardness to a severe tetraplegia.
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| Scanner of a healthy skull and another with microcephaly |
History: Normally people with this disease, in the nineteenth and twentieth century was sold at fairs and circuses to display them as ''The Pinheads'' or '' The monkey man ''.
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| actress representing a person with microcephaly |
There were also cases of pregnant women in Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the time of the launch of the atomic bombs where 7 of 11 women gave birth to children with microcephaly. The fetuses were exposed to large doses of radiation, since they were only 1.2 km away from the collision zone of the bombs. This is the only malformation found in children born in Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the time of infection.
The most frequent causes of microcephaly are chromosomal abnormalities (such as Down's syndrome), decreased oxygen received by the fetal brain, infections during the gestation period such as toxoplasmosis or rubella, drug, alcohol or any other toxic ingestion, severe malnutrition (if the mother does not feed correctly could cause problems in the development of the baby) and the bite of the Aedes mosquito, transporter of the Zika virus and two others already mentioned.
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| infographic of zika related to microcephaly |
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