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Folic Acid Levels Triple CDC credits food fortification program for preventing birth defects
By Neil Sherman THURSDAY, Oct. 26 (Health Scout) -- Folic acid blood levels in American women of childbearing age have nearly triple, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced. Taking the right amount of folic acid will help prevent at least 50 percent of spinal cord or brain birth defects, the CDC says. Increasing how much folic acid people consume has been a public health policy since 1992, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recognized the validity of studies done in the '70s and '80s that proved a lack of the vitamin could lead to birth defects in unborn children. "This is the first look at the use of a public health policy like folic acid fortification, and we are pretty excited to find that our country's effort to fortify foods to prevent birth defects is working," says Dr. David Fleming, deputy director of science and public health with the CDC in Atlanta, Ga. "I wish other additives to prevent birth defects were this simple.... At least we've got a handle on this one." Folic acid has been a required additive in food like bread, cereal and other grain products since 1998. The CDC compared folic acid levels in women ages 15 to 44 who took part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in the years 1988 to 1994 with the level in women who participated in the 1999 Survey. The results show that the average level of folic acid in their blood rose from 6.3 nanograms per milliliter to 16.2 nanograms per milliliter. The increase was reported in this week's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Folic acid is vital for cell growth and function, according to the Spina Bifida Association. In the developing fetus, a lack of the vitamin may be responsible for neural tube birth defects that affect the development of the spinal cord and brain. The neural tube is the part of the fetus that becomes the spinal cord and brain. The two major types of neural tube defects, anencephaly -- partial or complete absence of the baby's brain -- and spina bifida -- an opening of the baby's spine -- occur in about 2,500 U.S. births each year, about six in every 10,000 births. This is a decline from 1970, when about 13 in every 10,000 births resulted in a neural tube defect. Michele Kling, a spokeswoman for the March of Dimes in White Plains, N.Y., says the fortification of food with folate is "an important step in preventing these very serious birth defects in the brain and spine. We are happy that this trend is going up, if it indeed is a trend." Kling says that more data is needed to ensure that these blood folate levels are sustained. "We want to see more data over the next five years to gain some level of comfort." But Fleming doesn't see a problem. "As long as we continue to have folic acid fortification, we can sustain the blood levels we are seeing now. And this is a very good way to assure women are getting enough folic acid." Folic acid may also be important in reducing homocysteine level in the blood. Too much homocysteine, an amino acid essential for building and maintaining tissues, can double your risk of heart attack, stroke or loss of circulation in the hands and feet, according to the Mayo Clinic. What To Do Don't stop taking a daily multivitamin with folic acid and keep eating those leafy greens, Kling and Fleming say. "The CDC's recommendation to consume 400 micrograms every day for every woman capable of having a baby stands," Kling says. "The March of Dimes recommends a multivitamin daily containing folic acid and a diet rich in foods like orange juice, greens, leafy vegetables and fortified grain products." For more on folic acid fortification, see the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. And for more on the benefits of folic acid, visit the CDC. For more on folic acid and heart disease, check out the American Heart Association. Also, you may want to read these other Health Scout stories on folic acid.
SOURCES: Interviews with David Fleming, M.D., deputy director of science and public health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga.; and Michele Kling, spokeswoman, March of Dimes, White Plains, N.Y.; Oct. 27, 2000 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Copyright © 2000 Rx Remedy, Inc. Last updated 10/26/00. This
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