Multivitamins best for preventing birth defects,

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Folic Acid is a water soluable B vitamin that must be taken in each day. The USA

has been restricting the use and sale of the vitamin Folic

Acid for over 40 years and most of that time it has been well known

that deficiencies of it cause birth defects. Processed industrialized foods

contain almost no folic acid. F.

 

http://nutraingredients.com/news/news-NG.asp?n=52468-multivitamins-best-for=

 

 

 

Multivitamins best for preventing birth defects, new review

 

 

01/06/2004 - Multivitamins containing folic acid appear to be more

effective at preventing neural tube defects than high dose folic acid

supplements, suggests a new review, attempting to resolve the debate

over how women should consume the essential nutrient.

 

It also concludes that multivitamins should contain between 0.4 - 0.8

mg of folic acid for pregnant women to prevent neural tube defects and

some other congenital abnormalities.

 

During periods of rapid growth, such as pregnancy and foetal

development, the body's requirement for folic acid increases and

insufficient levels of the vitamin in mothers have been linked to

higher risk of neural tube defects, causing the permanently disabling

disease spina bifida, in offspring.

 

Each year about 3 per cent of all new births around the world are

affected with major structural birth defects, according to the new

study, or more than 4 million each year, and these are the major cause

of infant mortality and disabilities among children in industrialized

countries.

 

In Canada, which introduced folic acid fortification of grain-based

foods in 1998, the prevalence of neural-tube defects among both unborn

and newborn children has been halved and it has also seen a similar

benefit on incidence of the deadly childhood cancer neuroblastoma.

 

But aside from those living in a handful of countries including

Canada, Chile and the US, most women must rely on self-supplementation

around the time of conception to prevent birth defects in their

offspring. Now a review of three major trials suggests that

multivitamins containing between 0.4 and 0.8 mg of folic acid is the

best way of achieving this prevention.

 

Recent research in this area has debated whether the use of folic acid

alone or folic acid-containing multivitamins is better. Researchers

have also questioned whether a high dose of folic acid (eg 5mg) might

be more effective than a daily multivitamin with low dose (0.4 - 0.8

mg) folic acid.

 

In a paper published in the International Journal of Medical Sciences

(vol 1, issue 1, 50-61), Professor Andrew E. Czeizel, receiver of the

2002 award of the US National Council on Folic Acid for Excellence in

Research in the Field of Folic Acid and Birth Defects Prevention,

compares two intervention trials and a case-control surveillance of

congenital abnormalities that involve very large population.

 

The pooled findings of these trials indicate that approximately 92 per

cent of neural tube defects may be prevented by supplemented

multivitamins containing 0.8 mg of folic acid.

 

The first intervention trial is a randomized controlled trial

involving 2,819 participants supplemented with multivitamins

containing 0.8 mg of folic acid, and 2,683 unsupplemented

participants. The second trial is a two-cohort controlled trial

involving 3,069 participants supplemented with the same multivitamins,

and 3,069 unsupplemented participants. The case-control surveillance

of congenital abnormalities includes 30,054 pregnant women who

received high dose (in general 6 mg) folic acid supplementation - in a

much larger racially homogeneous European-Caucasican population.

 

A comparison of these results shows that multivitamins containing 0.8

mg of folic acid were more effective for the reduction of neural-tube

defects than high dose folic acid supplements.

 

While both multivitamins and folic acid can prevent some part of

congenital cardiovascular malformations, only multivitamins were able

to reduce the prevalence at birth of obstructive defects of urinary

tract, limb deficiencies and congenital pyloric stenosis. Folic acid

was effective in preventing some part of rectal/anal stenosis/atresia,

and high dose of folic acid had effect in preventing some orofacial

clefts.

 

In a separate study, Smithells et al used a multivitamin containing

0.36 mg of folic acid and they were able to prevent 91 per cent of

recurrent neural tube defects.

 

In light of these findings, Czeizel recommends the daily use of a

multivitamin containing 0.4 - 0.8 mg of folic acid for pregnant women.

 

 

 

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