Nike Ad featuring man with spina bifida

[Barb]

That is great to see wheelchair basketball get some more good 'press'
(January 2, 2008) -- He's in the gym five to six days a week, but this week
the UW Whitewater junior, Matt Scott, plans to take a day off.
He is known for not making excuses about taking a day off, but now he has a
good one.
Scott says, "This is the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me."
Scott's championship-winning style on the hardwood has earned him a starring
role on the small screen.
He says, "I felt like it was the red carpet treatment the entire time."
The basketball player, majoring in social work, traveled to California this
month to play his game for a Nike TV ad.
Scott says this is the closest to being "like Mike" that he's ever been, but
Scott has one thing on Michael Jordan, he's disabled.
"I was proud to be selected. I feel I'm representative of disable athletes
everywhere that just don't make excuses and just go out and do their sport
regardless of what their disability may be," Scott says.
He was born with Spina Bifida, which he's quick to point out is the number
one birth defect worldwide.
He says his disability have never held him back from reaching for a wing.
His team, the Warhawks, have won four of their last five national
championship contests.
Scott says that this new Nike ad is bigger than his unconventional jumpshot.
It has a message for everybody, featuring a game few might know exists.
"This is big for wheelchair basketball, big for disabled athletics period,"
says Scott.
The commercial begins airing January 2nd on ESPN and MTV.
The Warhawks are in the middle of an undefeated season.

[kali]

so happy to read such an article!

[Sheena51985]

that's awesome!! thanks for sharing!!

[lisawalker23]

my baby has been diagnoised with sb im 28 wks preg
but i read that spina bifida is basicly in the genes cant think of right wording!!:33a: but me and my partner are ok and it dont run in our familys

and i also read spina bifida only happens in teenage mums but hey im not a teenager im a 23 year old woman

whats the truth??
whats true whats not?
whats fact??
whats fiction some one please fill in these blanks for me!!!! :sign0009: :sign0009: :sign0009: :sign0009: :sign0009: :sign0009: :sign0009: :sign0009: :sign0009: :sign0009: :sign0009::33a::sign0009:

[Dodger67]

Your first question: Is it genetic? Yes and no. Genetic factors are only part of the story.

As far as you, or anyone else, knows it "doesn't run in your families". BUT there are mild forms of neural tube defects such as SB Occulta which are often not diagnosed because they show no symptoms. I'd put money on it that if every single one of your currently living and future 1st to 3rd degree relatives had their spines examined by MRI they would find at least one case of occulta.
However, environmental factors such as the much publicised folic acid issue also contribute to the occurrence of SB.

BTW - as of your diagnosis, SB does now "run in your families". (All trends start with case number 1)

Your second question: Only teenage mothers have babies with SB?
Definitely absolutely not true! My mother was 29 when I was born. As far as I know there is no correlation at all between SB and the mother's age. It is not like chromosomal abnormalities such as Downs, that increase with age.

[LisaJoy]

Scientists have been studying the geography of sb for about 50 years and it is interesting that occurrence spikes in regional pockets -- it is thought to be a combination of genetic and environmental factors, but for the most part no one knows why any particular person is born with sb. Back in the 60s & 70s, worldwide incidence of sb was highest in the UK and in parts of the world with a significant population descended from Brits and Irish. So in the US, Boston (large Irish population) had a high incidence, as did the southern Appalachians (still one of the highest incidence regions in the US). Even in Britain, there were specific areas, like Wales or the region around Liverpool, which had a much higher rate of occurrence than other parts of Britain. The demographic has been shifting in the last couple of decades, but they measure births, not occurrences. As far as I know, no government systematically tracks the reasons for abortion and most fetuses with sb in Europe and North America are aborted now. So now in the US, Hispanics have a higher incidence than persons of British or Irish descent.

[Dodger67]

Do we have any Hispanic American members here?
My impression (purely from the photos posted here so far) is that we are all "white" and also with a majority of British ancestry.

[LisaJoy]

lsanchez (infant son Daniel)

[Gymp]

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/images/spacer.gif http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/images/spacer.gif"Racial/Ethnic Differences in the Birth Prevalence of Spina Bifida --- United States, 1995--2005"



http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5753a2.htm

Gymp

[Dodger67]

Thanks Gymp! :goodpost:
I wonder if there is similar data available for the whole world?
I remember once reading that the incidence of SB is very low in Japan. Don't remember any details, sorry.

[LisaJoy]

Thanks, Gymp. Nothing like getting it hot off the press! So the supposed higher rate in Hispanics has been officially disproven.

[Gymp]

I wasn't able to dig up any world wide statistics on incidence of Spina bifida that were compiled as a whole.I did find a rather interesting page that shows the mortality rate of Spina Bifida for different countries around the world.I don't know how accurate it is but it is interesting...
Here's the link...

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/mor_spi_bif_percap-mortality-spina-bifida-per-capita

I happened upon this as well,it may be of interest to Dodger and the others living on the African Continent...
Here's that link...

http://www.independentliving.org/docs7/miles200609.html

Gymp

[LisaJoy]

Great links, Gymp. I bet if there are international statistics, they come out of the World Health Organization.

[Dodger67]

Here you go:
http://www.who.int/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/2004_report_update/en/index.html
SB is only one of well over a hundred diseases and conditions covered in the report.
Have fun!:dance2:

[LisaJoy]

That was quick -- I should hire you guys as my personal research assistants!

[Gymp]

Cool! I was thinking of W.H.O.but it didn't come up in any of my searches,good going Dodger!

Gymp

[Dodger67]

So how much does a research assistant earn?:dance2:

The timezone difference between us is actually an advantage.
You post your "to do list" by the end of your working day and the results are waiting for you when you get back in your office the next morning.:fyi:
I'll also check the grammar and spelling of your writing.:sign0023:

[LisaJoy]

Actually, research assistants in the humanities are usually "slave labor" AKA graduate assistants. Unlike scientists, we seldom get grants, and like all academics, we don't get paid for articles we write (and it is the rare academic book that actually earns royalties; I've never gotten any for mine! In fact, last time I checked, I was about 1.7 millionth on Amazon. But it got me tenure, and given the current fiscal crisis in Tennessee, that is worth quite a bit!!). Oops, I just checked -- I've sunk to 1.9 millionth!

[naomi6896]

Do we have any Hispanic American members here?
My impression (purely from the photos posted here so far) is that we are all "white" and also with a majority of British ancestry.

Hello Dodger67,
My name is Naomi and my son Braden is twelve and he was born with SB we are american but our ancestory is Mexican......didn't even know what SB was until our son was born..................we live in central Tx and we have heard that in Mexico closest to South Tx there are a lot of cases of SB due to the factories that have crossed the border for cheaper labor...don't know if that really has anything to do with it ..I was on a major diet and had no idea that I was pregnant until period stopped and went out got a preg test at home it was positive went to the doctor and found out I was three months pregnant, the doctor said well your daughter is healthy right you will be just fine...don't worry it is too late to to do fetal testing now so I said fine but then I noticed that my son didn't move as much as my daughter there was no kicking just fluttering the doc said he is just lazy...the day he was born we saw that his legs were different and his feet were turned funny..I have been asked would you have aborted? I look at my son who is so wonderful and I can say with all certainty NO I would not have changed a thing except been more insistant when I knew something wasn't quite right because he was born three months early and he should have been C Sectioned and was not and that almost caused him his life if he had been only a few ounces larger he would not be here!!!!! so to any Mom out there follow your gut instinct ALWAYS!!!!! My son is twelve and awesome he is a joy everyone who meets him says that he is funny easy going and patient............South Tx has a high rate of SB and yes most are Hispanic...

[Dodger67]

I'm wondering if the hispanic predominance could be due to
1. A cultural/religious (catholic versus protestant) bias agains termination of pregnancy,
2. A lower rate of pre-natal diagnosis due to socio-economic factors (poorer people tend to have less access to and thus use fewer "elective" medical services)?

Roger's Hypothesis to explain the predominance of SB in the hispanic population of the southern United States:

Wealthier Protestant Anglos tend to go for more pre-natal testing and when they get a positive diagnosis they chose to terminate more often than less wealthy Catholic Hispanics?

Could we find a graduate student to work on this?

[naomi6896]

we are hispanic and by no means wealthy......................I did have prenatal care for my daughter who is two years older than my son with SB but I had no prenatal care for the first three months because I did not know I was pregnant I was dieting and I never had morning sickness (even with my daughter) but we were trying to get pregnant with her. Braden was a complete surprise.....................I am not catholic not all hispanics are that is yet another stereotype..................abortion was not an option not due to religion but due to our human values...............if GOD wants someone here then he has a plan and who are we to interfere................I don't care what a church says...................and I certainly don't care what a man who hasn't even had sex thinks about whether or not I have a child..............Abortions are a personal choice and it should be.................White, Hispanic, Black or otherwise..................................so if white protestants are out there aborting it is probably just by choice............and some hispanics do actually have prenatal care..........................some do not...........again choices.....:2aa:

[Dodger67]

Please don't mistake statistics for stereotypes.

[LisaJoy]

Statistical studies are used to describe broad trends in large populations, but they are not intended to say anything about specific cases. They are just tools -- for example, social scientists and epidemiologists use statistical studies to try to determine if the message about folic acid has penetrated particular sub-populations. If not, then they can ask why and try to develop new strategies. But for them to hypothesize that, for example, Mexican Americans in San Antonio are less likely than non-Hispanic whites to know about folic acid supplementation says nothing at all about whether specific Mexican American or white people in San Antonio (or anywhere else) know about it. (this is a purely hypothetical example).

Which is just a fancy way of saying what Dodger already said -- and to reassure that no offense is intended.