Foliumzuur tegen hazenlip.*
Uit een Europese studie blijkt dat voldoende foliumzuur in het begin van de zwangerschap de kans op een baby met een hazenlip en/of gespleten gehemelte flink kan verminderen. De baby’s van vrouwen die alleen voeding, die rijk is aan foliumzuur nemen hebben tot 25% minder kans. Wordt de voeding dagelijks aangevuld met 400 μg foliumzuur dan is de kans op een baby met een hazenlip en/of gespleten gehemelte 40% minder.
Folic
Acid Cuts Risk Of Cleft Lip
Taking
folic acid supplements in early pregnancy seems to substantially reduce the risk
of cleft lip, finds a new study.
It is widely known that taking folic acid in early pregnancy reduces the risk of
neural tube defects, such as spina bifida. The current recommended daily dose is
400 µg starting before conception.
Some studies have suggested that folic acid may also help prevent facial clefts,
but the question remains unresolved. So researchers set out to asses the
possible effects of folic acid on facial clefts in Norway, which has one of the
highest rates of facial clefts in Europe.
They identified infants born from 1996 to 2000; 377 with cleft lip (with or
without cleft palate), 196 with cleft palate only, and 763 healthy controls.
All mothers were surveyed about their reproductive history, smoking, alcohol,
drugs, and other exposures during early pregnancy. They were also asked to
recall their diet during the first three months of pregnancy, whether they took
folic acid supplements and, if so, when and how often they took them.
Women were asked similar questions about multivitamins, and the researchers then
estimated each woman's total folic acid intake.
After adjusting for smoking and other confounding factors, they found that folic
acid supplementation of 400µg or more a day reduced the risk of cleft lip with
or without cleft palate by 40%.
Independent of supplements, diets rich in fruits, vegetables, and other high
folate containing foods reduced the risk by 25%. The lowest risk of cleft lip
was among women with folate rich diets who also took folic acid supplements and
multivitamins. Folic acid provided no protection against cleft palate alone,
according to the results.
The authors acknowledge that their study alone cannot show that folic acid
definitely prevents cleft lip. Combined with alll the previous evidence, however,
their work does suggest a real preventive effect.
If folic acid is able to prevent a major birth defect in addition to neural tube
defects, this benefit should be included among the risks and benefits of
fortifying foods with folic acid, a matter of ongoing controversy in many
countries, they conclude.
Click here to view paper: http://press.psprings.co.uk/bmj/january/clefts.pdf.
(Febr. 2007) (Opm.
In bijzondere gevallen zoals zwangerschap is het inderdaad verstandig
behalve gezonde voeding bepaalde supplementen te nemen. Meer over voeding en foliumzuur.)