Can Folic Acid Prevent Childhood Autism?
February 28, 2013
A woman holds her stomach during the last stages of her pregnancy in Bordeaux, France, April 28, 2010.
From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report in Special English.
A new study found that women who took folic acid supplements in early pregnancy were less likely to have a child with autism. Folic acid is a B vitamin that helps the body build and repair cells. The study did not prove that folic acid can prevent childhood autism, but the findings suggest a connection. The researchers called for examining whether folic acid is associated with a reduced risk of other brain disorders in children.
Children with autism have problems communicating and socializing with other people.
Researchers at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health looked at records of more 85,000 children born between 2002 and 2008.
The study asked mothers to describe their diets, including vitamins and other nutritional treatments, before and during their pregnancies.
Research leader Pal Suren and his colleagues compared the women who took folic acid supplements to those who did not.
“The women who took folic acid supplements in early pregnancy had a substantial reduction in risk of having a child with autism. The reduction was 40 percent.”
He says the best time to take folic acid to reduce the risk of autism seems to be from four weeks before to eight weeks after the start of pregnancy. The researchers found that taking folic acid halfway through pregnancy had no effect.
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