Monday, February 04, 2008

Folic-acid linked to fewer pregnancy complications

The risk of pre-eclampsia, which affects two to three per cent of all pregnancies, may be reduced by 63% with multivitamin supplements that contain folic acid, suggests a new study amongst 2,951 pregnant women that appears in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Pre-eclampsia occurs when a mother's blood pressure rises to the hypertensive range, and excretion of protein in the urine becomes too high. It is estimated to be responsible for about 60,000 deaths worldwide.

The results add to the well-established benefits of the vitamin that links folate deficiency in early pregnancy to increased risk of neural tube defects (NTD) - most commonly spina bifida and anencephaly - in infants.

No comments: