A small but revealing study from the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center suggests that a widely used tool to measure physical, emotional and psychological functioning and well-being in children may fail to accurately gauge these quality-of-life indicators in the children with some of the most severe bladder conditions, such as spina bifida and bladder exstrophies.

A senior health official in New South Wales is calling on the food industry to explain its opposition to the introduction of folic acid in all flour. Extensive research, including a report by Food Standards Australia New Zealand, suggests that adding the vitamin to flour helps reduce the number of birth defects such as spina bifida, stroke and heart disease.