Women are urged to take
multivitamins early
in pregnancy to reduce
risk of fetal defects
(click to enlarge)
In a study published in the journal "Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics," researchers estimated that prenatal multivitamin supplements with folic acid "may prevent as many as 1,400 cases of pediatric cancers in the United States."
The study, conducted at the University of Toronto, has linked pre-natal multivitamins with folic acid to a decreased risk of pediatric cancers, namely leukemia, brain tumors and neuroblastoma, a malignant tumor in the nerve tissue.
It is a well known fact promoted by organizations like the March of Dimes that mothers taking folic acid during pregnancy can help reduce the risk of many birth defects. Now, based on this new data, it is estimated that maternal multivitamin supplementation with folic acid may reduce the risk of leukemia by 36%, childhood brain tumors by 27% and neuroblastoma by 47%.
Although folic acid is suspected to be the preventive agent, researchers stated that the data is not definitive; however, they indicate that women who are planning pregnancy or who are newly pregnant should take a vitamin supplement with folic acid as a preferred method of prevention.
