Disease Caused Baby's Head to Swell to Three Times Its Normal Size

When 10-month-old "Baby Klaus," as he has become known, was sent home to die after being diagnosed with hydrocephalus, also known as "water on the brain," his head had swollen to more than three times its normal size. His family in El Paso, Texas, was distraught. They didn't know what to do. Baby Klaus not only had a head measuring in at a 104 centimeters in circumference, but he was in obvious pain.

But thanks to the nonprofit organization Hydro Angels Over Texas, a group founded three years ago by hydrocephalus sufferer Sheri Burdine, Baby Klaus may get a second chance. With help from Hydro Angels, Baby Klaus is now receiving care at from neurosurgeons at the University of Texas Science Center in San Antonio, where, according to ABC News reports, doctors are slowly draining fluid from his brain.

Some one million Americans suffer from some form of hydrocephaly,

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SMOKING DURING PREGNANCY AFFECTS MYELIN GENES IN OFFSPRING

Smoking during pregnancy may interfere with brain development. New animal research shows maternal smoking affects genes important in the formation and action of a fatty brain substance called myelin that insulates brain cell connections.

The research was presented at Neuroscience 2010, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, held in San Diego.

The finding may explain why the children of mothers who smoked during pregnancy are more likely to develop attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, autism, drug abuse, and other psychiatric disorders. "Myelin deficits have been previously observed in adults with various psychiatric disorders," said Ming Li, PhD, of the University of Virginia, who directed the study.

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