USA Today Examines Benefits Of Folic Acid In Preventing Brain, Spinal Cord Birth Defects

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Article Date: 21 Jun 2006 - 15:00 PDT

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USA Today on Monday examined the benefits of folic acid for all women of childbearing age to prevent brain and spinal cord birth defects. According to a report released in May by an independent panel convened by NIH, folic acid helps to prevent neural tube defects, including spina bifida. Such defects occurred in about 4,000 U.S. pregnancies annually in the early 1990s; however, studies suggested that 50% to 70% of cases could be prevented if women took folic acid during the first few weeks of pregnancy. In 1992, measures were adopted by FDA and the U.S. Public Health Service to incorporate folic acid into the diets of women of childbearing age. Such measures now are preventing about 1,000 NTDs annually, USA Today reports. However, infants continue to be born with NTDs, "a disabling condition that we can fix," Godfrey Oakley, a public health researcher at Emory University in Atlanta and a former CDC official, said. Surveys conducted annually since the mid-1990s by the March of Dimes show that about one-third of women of childbearing age take folic acid supplements, Nancy Green, March Of Dimes' medical director, said. She added that a daily vitamin supplement to prevent birth defects for women who might not plan to become pregnant is "a really tough sell." In addition, fortified foods are not equally consumed by all women. According to USA Today, a higher rate of NTDs among the Hispanic population might be partially because Hispanic women consume fewer folic acid-fortified foods. March of Dimes and other groups are considering urging FDA to order an increased dose of folic acid in all enriched grains and recommending that manufacturers of Mexican corn flour enrich their products with folic acid (Painter, USA Today, 6/19).

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