To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: More Women Taking Folate, But Still Not Enough URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/2DF3A.htm Doctor's Guide July 4, 1997
LONDON -- July 4, 1997 -- Folate is important in the prevention of spina bifida, a congenital deformity in which the spine is split at the lower end. In 1992, the U.K.'s Department of Health Expert Advisory Group recommended that "all women should take an extra 0·4 mg folic acid before conception and during the early months of pregnancy". A Research Letter in this week's The Lancet reports that, since 1993, the percentage of women taking folate supplements has increased, but the investigators warn that "there is still a long way to go". Jennifer Wild and colleagues from the Centre for Reproduction, Growth, and Development, University of Leeds, U.K., have investigated whether the 1992 recommendation has increased awareness about folic acid. In 1993, they found that of 613 pregnant women, only 11 (1.8 percent) had taken folic acid before conception. Last year they repeated their survey and interviewed 679 women who were attending their first antenatal checkup. Two hundred and ten (30.9 percent) women had increased their folate intake before conception: 146 by supplements alone, two by eating more folate-rich foods, and 62 by supplements plus diet. Two hundred and sixty-one (38.4 percent) had been prescribed or advised to take folate supplements in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and 255 (37.55 percent) did so. Four hundred and thirty-one (63.4 percent) women reported that their family doctor had talked to them about folic acid and 260 (38.3 percent) had been given written information. However, 175 (25.5 percent) women said that they had not known about folic acid for the prevention of spina bifida before they had talked to their doctor. The increased awareness about folate is encouraging, the authors write, "the percentage of women taking folic supplements before conception has risen from 1.8 percent in 1993 to 18.2 percent in 1994 to 30.6 percent in 1996". This increase reflects, in part, the success of the 1995 Health Education Authority's campaign aimed at health professionals. The investigators emphasise, however, that there is still room for improvement, "38.8 percent of women interviewed started to take supplements only after conception, and most after the fifth week of pregnancy, which may well offer little or no protection" against spina bifida. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.