What is the benefit of folic acid supplementation in early pregnancy?
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Stacy Wiegman answered:Taking folic acid supplements at the time of conception and in early pregnancy may prevent neural tub defects -- problems with the formation of your baby's spine and brain. Folic acid is the manmade version of folate, or vitamin B9, which is found naturally in foods such as green leafy vegetables, citrus fruits and dried beans. In 1996, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published regulations requiring that grain products such as cereals and breads be fortified with folic acid. Eight years later, the rate of neural tube defects in the U.S. had dropped by 25%. Talk to your doctor about your own needs for folic acid.Taking folic acid supplements at the time of conception and in early pregnancy may prevent neural tub defects -- problems with the formation of your baby's spine and brain. Folic acid is the manmade version of folate, or vitamin B9, which is... More -
Dr. Michael T Murray answered:The discovery that folic acid supplementation (400 mg per day) in early pregnancy can reduce the incidence of neural-tube defects by as much as 80 percent is regarded as one of the greatest findings of the last part of the twentieth century. The evidence became so overwhelming that the FDA finally had to reverse its previous position and acknowledge the association, allowing folic acid supplements and foods high in folic acid to claim that "daily consumption of folic acid by women of childbearing age may reduce the risk of neural-tube defects."
The interesting thing concerning the discovery of the link between folic acid deficiency and neural-tube defects is how long it took for obstetricians and other medical doctors to begin making the recommendation of folic acid supplementation to pregnant women. In addition, given the safety of folic acid, why was the FDA so dead set against the possibility that it might help prevent such a serious birth defect? My feeling is that its attitude, again, was related to an inherent bias. That bias is getting in the way of the advancement of medicine and the health of Americans.
Once it became "accepted medical practice" to recommend folic acid to women of childbearing age, obstetricians felt they had to do everything possible to make sure their patients were taking folic acid, presumably to prevent a malpractice suit if a child was born with a neural-tube defect.
Although obstetricians and other medical doctors claim that the protective effects of folic acid were not known until 1992, when the U.S. Public Health Service issued a recommendation that all women of childbearing age capable of becoming pregnant should consume 400 mg of folic acid per day, folic acid deficiency was linked to neural-tube defects since the early 1960s. How long will it take the medical profession to accept other links related to nutritional supplementation in the treatment and prevention of disease?
Find out more about this book: What the Drug Companies Won't Tell You and Your Doctor Doesn't Know: The Al...
The discovery that folic acid supplementation (400 mg per day) in early pregnancy can reduce the incidence of neural-tube defects by as much as 80 percent is regarded as one of the greatest findings of the last part of the twentieth century. The... More
