One Got Fat...
Nick Gillespie | March 10, 2006, 2:45pm
and the rest of us just got sick to our stomachs.
Hit & Run reader Rough Ol' Boy bloods the way to the watering hole by linking to this bizarre 1963 bike safety film, One Got Fat, which eerily anticipates Planet of the Apes (really). Putting on his best Robert Osborne, ROB notes
This is a bike safety video from 1963, and it is straight fucked up. It's the sort of thing that if you watched it after taking a ten strip, you'd spend the rest of your life in a mental institute muttering about Phil Floogle and Trigby Fipps. They just don't make safety videos like this anymore.
Check it out here.
Frank_A | March 11, 2006, 4:44pm | #
Here's what the CDC says: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/dd/mr3.htm#causes
What causes mental retardation? Can it be prevented?
Mental retardation can start anytime before a child reaches the age of 18 years. It can be caused by injury, disease, or a brain abnormality. These causes can happen before a child is born or during childhood. For many children, the cause of their mental retardation is not known. Some of the most common known causes of mental retardation are Down syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome, and fragile X syndrome, all of which occur before birth. Other causes that take place before a child is born include genetic conditions (such as Cri-du-chat syndrome or Prader-Willi syndrome), infections (such as congenital cytomegalovirus), or birth defects that affect the brain (such as hydrocephalus or cortical atrophy). Other causes of mental retardation (such as asphyxia) happen while a baby is being born or soon after birth. Still other causes of mental retardation do not happen until a child is older. These may include serious head injury, stroke, or certain infections such as meningitis.
.....
Right now, we do not know how to prevent most conditions that cause mental retardation. However, there are some causes that can be prevented. Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is one such cause. A woman can prevent FAS by not drinking when she is pregnant. CDC funds several projects to study how common FAS is, how to encourage women not to drink during pregnancy, and how to help people with FAS and their families. [Read more about CDC's FAS program]
Some metabolic conditions, such as phenylketonuria (PKU), galactosemia, and congenital hypothyroidism, can cause mental retardation and other problems if babies with these conditions do not begin treatment soon after birth. Parents and doctors can find out if a child has one of these conditions through a simple blood test or heel prick. Newborns in the United States are tested soon after birth, but different states test for different conditions. Parents can request that their baby be tested for all conditions that have tests. Children that do have these conditions are usually treated with medicine or put on a special diet. If the correct treatment is started soon enough after the child is born and continues as long as needed, the child will not have mental retardation. [Learn more about newborn screening in your state] [Learn more about the conditions screened for in newborn screening programs]
It's also important for women with PKU to follow a special diet when they are pregnant. If they do not follow their diets, their babies are very likely to be affected by mental retardation and other birth defects. [Read the CDC press release about this topic] [Read the complete article]
Another cause of mental retardation that can be prevented is kernicterus, a kind of brain damage that happens when a newborn baby has too much jaundice. In some newborn babies, the liver makes too much yellow pigment called bilirubin. If too much bilirubin builds up in a new baby's body, the skin and whites of the eyes turn yellow. This yellow coloring is called jaundice. A little jaundice is not a problem. It is actually very common in newborn babies and usually goes away by itself. Some babies, however, have too much jaundice. If not treated, these high levels of bilirubin can damage a baby's brain. Kernicterus most often causes cerebral palsy and hearing loss, but in some children it can also cause mental retardation. Kernicterus can be prevented by using special lights (phototherapy) or other therapies to treat babies. [Read more about kernicterus]
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Here's some information on fertility and Down's syndrome, which theoratically could be applied to any genetic condition that will outright cause mental retardation (as opposed to PKU which is preventable): http://www.downs-syndrome.org.uk/DSA_Faqs.aspx#faq31
Can men & women with Down's syndrome get married and have children?
People with Down's syndrome have the right to have personal and sexual relationships, and to get married. The DSA knows of a number of happily married couples where one or both partners have Down's syndrome. It is important that young people with Down's syndrome receive education in the area of relationships and sexuality. As in other areas of learning, they may need more support with this than some of their peers.
Both women and men with Down's syndrome can be fertile, although both sexes have a reduced fertility rate. They therefore need advice on, and access to, contraception. People with Down's syndrome need careful and sensitive advice about having children, as there are a number of issues to consider. Some people with learning disabilities can successfully parent their children, given the right support. However, many couples with learning disabilities decide for themselves not to have children because of the responsibility and hard work involved, or for financial reasons. Where one parent has Down's syndrome, there is a 35% to 50% chance that the child would inherit the syndrome. This chance is even higher where both parents have Down's syndrome. There is also a high chance that pregnancy would end in miscarriage. Women with Down's syndrome are also more likely than other women to have a premature baby, or to need a caesarian section.
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