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Modifying Levels of Maternal Dietary Folic Acid or Choline to Study the Impact of Deficiencies on Offspring Health Outcomes
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Folic acid in the prevention of neural tube defect--a programme for Malaysia?

J J Ho1

  • 1Perak College of Medicine, Greentown, Ipoh, Perak.

The Medical Journal of Malaysia
|November 13, 2004
PubMed

There is good evidence that folic acid is safe and efficacious for reducing neural tube defect (NTD). All women capable of becoming pregnant should take 400 microgram daily. This can be given in the form of a daily vitamin supplement, by food fortification, or by increasing natural dietary folates. Compulsory grain fortification has been shown to reduce NTD in a population but supplementation and dietary advice have not. Malaysia should work towards a programme of grain fortification and use alternative strategies to reach sections of the population that would not be covered but several research questions need to be answered before a programme could be implemented in Malaysia.

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