Folic acid to prevent neural tube defects: scientific advances and public health issues
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1Division of Epidemiology, Statistics, and Prevention Research, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Current Opinion in Obstetrics & Gynecology
|December 1, 1996
Abstract:
Folic acid prevents some neural tube defects by correcting abnormal homocysteine metabolism. A defective gene coding for a homocysteine-related enzyme has been shown in people with neural tube defects. An extensive educational campaign will be required to alert women to the need to take 0.4 mg/day of folic acid during their childbearing years.