FOLATE DEFICIENCY ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER EARLY MISCARRIAGE RISK MISCARRIAGE RISK

[Guest guest]

--- " NIH OLIB (OD) " <olib wrote:

> Date:Tue, 15 Oct 2002 16:10:53 -0400

> " NIH OLIB (OD) " <olib

> FOLATE DEFICIENCY ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER EARLY

MISCARRIAGE RISK

> HHSPRESS

>

> NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH

>

> National Institute of Child Health and Human

> Development

> <http://www.nichd.nih.gov/>

>

> NIH NEWS RELEASE

>

> EMBARGOED BY JOURNAL

> Tuesday, October 15, 2002

> 4:00 p.m. ET

>

> Contact:

> Robert Bock

> or Marianne Glass Duffy

> (301) 496-5133

>

> FOLATE DEFICIENCY ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER EARLY

> MISCARRIAGE

> RISK

>

> Pregnant women who have low blood levels of the

> vitamin

> folate are more likely to have early miscarriages

> than are

> pregnant women who have adequate folate levels,

> according

> to a study of Swedish women by researchers at the

> Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and at the National

> Institute of Child Health and Human Development

> (NICHD).

>

> The finding suggests that a 1998 mandate by the U.S.

> Food

> and Drug Administration to fortify grain products

> with

> folic acid (the synthetic form of the vitamin) may

> prevent

> miscarriage in some women, in addition to lowering

> their

> risk for having a child with a class of birth

> defects known

> as neural tube defects (NTDs). NTDs include both

> spina

> bifida, in which a piece of the spinal cord

> protrudes from

> the spinal column, causing paralysis below the

> protrusion,

> and anencephaly, a fatal condition in which the

> brain fails

> to develop.

>

> The study appears in the current issue of the

> " Journal of

> the American Medical Association. " The researchers

> also

> found that women with high folate levels are no more

> likely

> to have early miscarriages than are women with

> moderate,

> but adequate, folate levels.

>

> " The results of this study reinforce the importance

> of

> folate for women in their childbearing years, " said

> Duane

> Alexander, M.D., Director of the NICHD. " Not only

> does

> taking folic acid before conception prevent the

> devastating

> form of birth defects known as neural tube defects,

> but it

> also appears to lower the risk of early

> miscarriage. "

>

> Since January 1998, the U.S. Food and Drug

> Administration

> has required food manufacturers to fortify certain

> grain

> products with folic acid, to reduce the risk of

> NTDs. Also

> in 1998, the Institute of Medicine recommended that

> all

> women of childbearing age receive 400 micrograms of

> folic

> acid each day. Folate occurs naturally in beans,

> leafy

> green vegetables and citrus fruits.

>

> The study was conducted between 1996 and 1998 in

> Uppsala

> County, Sweden by Lena George, M.D., of the

> Karolinska

> Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, and her colleagues.

> Sweden was considered an ideal country in which to

> conduct

> this study because, unlike the United States, its

> grain

> supply is not fortified with folic acid, explained

> the

> NICHD author of the study, James Mills, M.D., of

> NICHD's

> Division of Epidemiology, Statistics, and Prevention

> Research. As a result, the researchers were better

> able to

> study the relationship between folate deficiency and

> miscarriage than they would have been in the United

> States,

> where food fortification has vastly reduced the rate

> of

> folate deficiency.

>

> The researchers compared 468 women who had an early

> miscarriage (between six and twelve weeks gestation)

> to 921

> women who were six to twelve weeks pregnant. The

> women

> were asked a series of questions about their

> reproductive

> and health histories. They also provided blood

> samples

> that were used to assess their blood folate levels

> and

> smoking status.

>

> The researchers statistically compensated for

> factors known

> to influence miscarriage risk and blood folate

> level, such

> as maternal age, education, maternal smoking,

> obesity,

> number of previous pregnancies, and country of

> origin.

> They found that folate deficiency was associated

> with a

> fifty percent increase in risk of early miscarriage.

> They

> also found that high folate levels were not

> associated with

> miscarriage risk. The researchers defined folate

> deficiency as a blood folate level below 4.9 nmol/L,

> which

> is the cut-off for recommending folic acid

> supplements in

> Sweden. Women with blood folate levels between 5.0

> and 8.9

> nmol/L were considered to have adequate folate

> intakes,

> while women with folate levels greater than 9.0

> nmol/L were

> considered to have high folate intakes.

>

> Dr. Mills noted, however, American women have higher

> folate

> levels than do Swedish women. According to the 1999

> CDC's

> National Health and Nutrition Examination Study, the

> average blood folate level for American women is

> 16.2

> nmol/L.

>

> The NICHD is part of the National Institutes of

> Health, the

> biomedical research arm of the federal government.

> The

> Institute sponsors research on development, before

> and

> after birth; maternal, child, and family health;

> reproductive biology and population issues; and

> medical

> rehabilitation. NICHD publications, as well as

> information

> about the Institute, are available from the NICHD

> Web site,

> <http://www.nichd.nih.gov>, or from the NICHD

> Clearinghouse, 1-800-370-2943; e-mail

> NICHDClearinghouse.

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

, " Maynard S. Clark " <MaynardClark@Y...> wrote:

>

> --- " NIH OLIB (OD) " <olib@O...> wrote:

> > Date:Tue, 15 Oct 2002 16:10:53 -0400

> > " NIH OLIB (OD) " <olib@O...>

> > FOLATE DEFICIENCY ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER EARLY

> MISCARRIAGE RISK

 

Even more importantly, it is associated with a higher risk of neural

tube defect (spina bifida). Ladies, take your prenatals!!!

 

Be well, Hadass in Winnipeg.