Word: folic
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...latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, a team of researchers from Hungary report that women who consume 0.8 mg of folic acid, a B vitamin, for at least a month before they conceive have a dramatically lower risk of bearing a child with a neural-tube defect. Although the link between folic acid and neural-tube defects has been made before, this landmark study of 4,156 women is the first to show that the malformation can be prevented -- even in women who have no previous history of bearing children with neural- tube defects...
THERE WOULD BE NO CHANGE IN THE TASTE OF THE daily bread, but the addition of folic acid, a valuable B vitamin, to flour, breads and baked goods, as recommended by an advisory panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, could prevent a lot of misery. Just a smidgen of B, the group reports, could reduce the risk of neural-tube birth defects...
About 2,500 babies are born in the U.S. each year with most of the brain missing or the spinal column incompletely closed. Reflecting recent studies, many doctors advise that women planning pregnancy consume 0.4 mg of folic acid daily -- about double their average intake -- by eating more leafy green vegetables, citrus fruits, beans and fortified cereals or by taking vitamin pills. But many pregnancies are unplanned, and women do not realize that they are expecting until it is too late for supplements to do much good. Before approving the recommendation, the FDA must weigh whether the B-fortified food...
Another enticing finding reported last January established a link between folic acid and prevention of cervical cancer. According to a study at the University of Alabama's medical school, women who have been exposed to a virus that causes this cancer are five times as likely to develop precancerous lesions if they have low blood levels of folic acid. The discovery may help explain why cervical cancer is more common among the poor. Indigent women usually eat few vegetables and fruits, which are prime sources of folate. Says Butterworth, head of the research team: "It looks like many cases...
Last February the FDA rejected as premature applications by vitamin makers to promote folic acid as a means of preventing neural-tube birth defects, antioxidants as a hedge against cancer, and zinc as a booster of aging immune systems. Both federal and state regulatory agencies have been cracking down on nutrient health claims. The FDA says it will hold label claims to standards similar to those applied to drugs. Advises Dr. Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health: "At this time I say don't take megadoses, but I'm not ruling out that in two or three...