Anencephalus: A 23‐year Survey in a Sydney Hospital

Hypothesis: anencephaly and spina bifida are usually preventable by avoidance of a specific but unidentified substance present in certain potato tubers.

“…These low incidences, which apply also in much of the far east, including Hong Kong, Fiji, Manila, and Taiwan (Wei and Chen, 1965), are here taken to represent a background incidence of unknown origin against which the 'potato effect' is set off. The incidence in Melbourne (Collmann and Stoller, 1962) and in Sydney (Jones, 1967), to judge from hospital populations, is slightly higher (1 -2 and 1-5 per 1,000 hospital births). The cultivation of the potato in the areas surrounding Melbourne is indeed extensive.…”

The Occurrence of Anencephalus in the State of Victoria, Australia

“…Over the 12-year period from 1954 to 1965, there were 540 anencephalic births in Victoria, of which 339 or 63 per cent were stillborn (Table 1); this preponderance of stillbirths has been noted by most investigators- Record and McKeown (1949), Jones (1967). The excess of stillbirths over live births was generally consistent throughout the period as it occurred in each year, except 1955 and 1962.…”

“…These fluctuations, however, do not show any regular periodicity, and, apart from the significantly lower incidence in 1955, do not differ significantly from the overall incidence for the whole period. Edwards (1958) and Jones (1967) also obtained these characteristic year-to-year variations in annual incidence; and Leek and Millar (1963) likewise reported variations of annual incidence for Birmingham , but showed that there was no statistical significance between the differences.…”

“…This is identical with the present value obtained for the entire State of Victoria (Table 1) and indicates that, in this case, the hospital sample was representative of the State. Finally, Jones (1967), using the records of a Sydney hospital, found a total of 67 recorded cases of anencephalus in the 23-year period of 1942 to 1964, the incidence being 0.074.…”

Infant mortality from spina bifida, congenital hydrocephalus, monstrosity, and congenital diseases of the cardiovascular system in England and Wales

“…The survey of Jones (1967) of the incidence of anencephalus in a Sidney hospital suggests that Australia has escaped this second epidemic, and a study of the French national infant mortality data from 1950 to 1967 does not provide any evidence of an epidemic of dysraphism in France during this period (B. Morando, personal communication, 1970).…”