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Vitamin B12 may reduce risk of neural tube defects
Women may be able to reduce their risk of having a baby with
neural tube defects by boosting their intake of vitamin B12, new
research suggests.
Scientists found that women with the lowest levels of vitamin B12
were five times more likely to have a baby with a neural tube
defect than women with the highest levels.
Publishing their findings in the journal Paediatrics, the
researchers noted that vitamin B12 is known to be involved in
several biochemical reactions that also involve folate - a
nutrient that has long been known to reduce the risk of the
neural tube defect spina bifida.
Dr James Mills, a senior investigator at the National Institute
for Child Health and Human Development in the US, said that women
of childbearing age are already advised to take folic acid every
day as many pregnancies are unplanned.
"If women wait until they realise that they are pregnant before
they start taking folic acid, it is usually too late," he pointed
out.
"Our results offer evidence that women who have adequate B12
levels before they become pregnant may further reduce the
occurrence of this class of birth defects."
According to the UK's Food Standards Agency, women who are
thinking of having a baby should take a 0.4mg dose of folic acid
every day until the 12th week of pregnancy.
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