What causes pinhead?
Microcephaly is a condition where a baby’s head is much smaller than expected. During pregnancy, a baby’s head grows because the baby’s brain grows. Microcephaly can occur because a baby’s brain has not developed properly during pregnancy or has stopped growing after birth, which results in a smaller head size.
What does having a small head mean?
Microcephaly is a condition in which a person’s head size is much smaller than that of others of the same age and sex. Head size is measured as the distance around the top of the head. A smaller than normal size is determined using standardized charts.
Are there still Zika babies?
And while few people now fall sick with Zika each year, the children born during the last outbreak who have the signature defect of the virus — microencephaly — are still with us. One of them lives in Bayonne.
Is microcephaly caused by pesticides?
These inconsistencies and discrepancies provide ample reason for considering other causes and cofactors. A group of physicians in Argentina and Brazil have suggested that widespread use of the pesticide pyriproxifen13 to reduce mosquito populations because of a dengue epidemic in 2014 may be the cause of microcephaly.
Why are people with microcephaly called pinheads?
People with small heads were displayed as a public spectacle in ancient Rome. People with microcephaly were sometimes sold to freak shows in North America and Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries, where they were known by the name “pinheads”.
Can you be intelligent with a small head?
The head circumference of a child has essentially nothing to do with intelligence and, as long as your baby’s head is average-size and regularly growing, there’s no cause for alarm when they come in a bit behind the curve.
Can you grow out of microcephaly?
Microcephaly is a lifelong condition that has no cure. Treatment focuses on preventing or reducing problems and maximizing a child’s abilities. Children born with microcephaly need to see their healthcare team often. They will need tests to track the growth of the head.