Report indicates folic acid may prevent brain, spinal cord birth defects
Neural tube defects such as spina bifida, occurred in about 4,000 U.S. pregnancies in the 1990s. Recent studies, reported by an independent panel convened by the NIH, have shown that 50-70 percent of these cases could have been prevented had the women taken folic acid during the first few weeks of pregnancy. In 1992, the FDA and the U.S. Public Health adopted measures to encourage pregnant women to incorporate folic acid into their diets which seem to be preventing about 1,000 neural tube defects each year. A study by the Centers for Disease Control showed that about one-third of women of childbearing age take folic acid supplements. The March of Dimes is considering urging the FDA to order an increased dose of folic acid in all enriched grains seeing as how urging women to take supplements is sometimes difficult.