Folic acid may combat cleft lip and palate
Action Medical Researchers have found that pregnant women who take folic acid supplements may be doubling the health benefits for their unborn babies.
The B vitamin could help lower the risk of infants being born with cleft lip and palate, as well as reduce the chances of them developing spina bifida.
Action Medical Researcher Professor Robin Winter and colleagues at the Institute of Child Health, London, identified changes in a particular gene which may increase the risk of children suffering a cleft lip and palate. The gene, known as MTHFR, plays a vital role in regulating the body’s supply of folic acid.
Read more in the press release.
This article first appeared in our Touching Lives magazine in September 2003.
