September 8, 2006 – By taking a vitamin supplement including folic acid before and during pregnancy, women may reduce the risk of giving birth to a child with various types of birth defects. This is what the results of a meta-analysis indicate1 made in Canada.
Researchers from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto just reported these results in a scientific publication from the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada. They point out that the analysis of 41 epidemiological studies shows that multivitamin supplements would protect not only against neural tube defect, which was already demonstrated, but also against abnormalities of the cardiovascular system and limbs, cleft palate, oral cleft. , congenital hydrocephalus and urinary tract abnormalities.
The study looked at vitamin supplements containing folic acid, also known as vitamin B9. Researchers believe that the other vitamins present in these supplements may also play a role in the observed beneficial effect. According to them, more research is needed to determine the protective effects attributable to different supplements.
Since 1998, as part of a public health strategy, the Canadian and American authorities have required that white flour, cornmeal and pasta be fortified with folic acid. This practice aims to improve folate intakes in women of childbearing age in order to reduce the rates of neural tube defects in newborns. Since the implementation of this strategy, the number of cases of these anomalies has actually decreased in North America.2.3.
According to Canadian researchers, taking a vitamin supplement by women of childbearing age could similarly help reduce the number of cases of several other birth defects. In 2005, approximately 150,000 North American babies were born with birth defects.
Pierre Lefrançois – PasseportSanté.net
According to The Globe and Mail.
1. Taking multivitamin supplements during the prenatal period is said to prevent a wide range of serious birth defects. Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada. [consulté le 6 septembre 2006]. www.sogc.medical.org
2. Olney RS, Mulinare J. Trends in neural tube defect prevalence, folic acid fortification, and vitamin supplement use, Semin Perinatol 2002; 26 (4); 277-285.
3. Honein MA, Paulozzi LJ, et al. Impact of folic acid fortification of the US food supply on the occurrence of neural tube defects, JAMA 2001; 285: 2981-86.
