CAUSES OF HIGH AMMONIA. Ammonia is a normal by-product of processing nitrogen in the body, and is excreted as waste in the urine, in healthy people. However, elevated blood ammonia levels can occur when the kidneys or liver are not working properly, allowing this waste to remain in the bloodstream, which can be poisonous to your cells.
Spina bifida research scientists are looking at a possible genetic cause of spina bifida. The goal of this research is to find the genetic factors that make some children more susceptible to neural tube defects than others.
What is Spina Bifida? Spina bifida is one of a number of defects called neural tube defects. The neural tube is the group of cells that form during fetal development and will eventually form the brain and spinal cord of the embryo. The term spina bifida means cleft (or split) spine and is characterized by incomplete formation of the bones in the spine (vertebrae) that fail to completely cover the babyâs spinal cord.