Latest folic acid Stories

A U.S. study published on Monday found that diets rich in calcium might help protect against some cancers, Reuters reported. The benefits were mostly associated with foods high in calcium, rather than calcium tablets, researchers said.The U.S. National Cancer Institute tracked nearly half a million older men and women and found that those with the highest calcium intake from dairy and other foods and from calcium supplements had the lowest rates of colorectal cancer."Women in the highest...

Poor health choices before pregnancy could be just as harmful as they are during pregnancy. But research shows very few women follow the recommended nutritional and lifestyle choices before they become pregnant.Because many pregnancies are unplanned, doctors say proper healthcare is important for all women who could become pregnant, whether they're trying for conception or not.Information on the diet, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption and use of nutritional supplements of more...

A study by researchers at the University of Southampton, published online by the BMJ, has found that very few women follow healthy eating and lifestyle recommendations before becoming pregnant, even when the pregnancy is in some sense planned.Nutrition and lifestyle advice is widely available for women during pregnancy, but much less emphasis is given to advice for women who may become pregnant. Yet promoting good health and nutrition before pregnancy may be at least as important as during...

British researchers say a study they conducted found most women trying to get pregnant are not following dietary recommendations. The research team from Britain's University of Southampton found in a study of 12,500 British women that those attempting to become pregnant were only slightly more likely to follow pre-conception diet tips, the BBC reported Friday. The study of women ages 20 to 34, focused on their dietary supplement use, physical activity, alcohol consumption, smoking habits and...

SEATTLE, Jan. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A low-income woman receives vitamins to prevent birth defects of the brain and spine. A pregnant woman is educated on the link between periodontal disease and preterm and low birth weight deliveries and is then given the tools to improve her oral health. Asian- and Spanish-speaking women learn the signs of preterm labor. These, and many more at-risk populations, are now being helped through local grants announced today by the March of Dimes....

U.S. researchers have found children with inflammatory bowel disease have surprisingly high folate levels. Dr. Melvin Heyman and colleagues at the University of California in San Francisco and University of California at Berkeley said children with newly diagnosed cases of inflammatory bowel disease have higher concentrations of folate in their blood than those without the disease, This brings into question the theory that inflammatory bowel disease patients are prone to folate deficiency,...

Methotrexate (MTX), a folate antagonist that blocks folic acid activity, is the most widely used disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) for rheumatoid arthritis. It enters the cell via several pathways, one of which involves folate receptor β (FRβ), which is highly specific for cells present in the joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). During the last two decades, a second generation of folate antagonists has been designed to address some of the limitations of MTX,...

Grain Foods Foundation Partners with March of Dimes to Remind Women of the Importance of Folic Acid in Preventing Birth Defects WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Jan. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- A new March of Dimes survey conducted by the Gallup organization and funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals only 11 percent of women of childbearing age said they knew that folic acid should be consumed prior to pregnancy. Nearly 40 percent of American women of childbearing age (ages 18-45),...

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Jan. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Only 17 percent of Spanish-speaking women of childbearing age in the United States are taking a multivitamin containing folic acid daily, according to the first nationally representative folic acid awareness survey to focus on this population. Folic acid can prevent neural tube defects (NTDs), serious birth defects of the brain and spine such as spina bifida and anencephaly, which are more prevalent in the Hispanic population than...

ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Just in time for National Folic Acid Awareness Week (January 5-11) and January's Birth Defects Prevention Month, USA Rice Federation has teamed up with the National Council on Folic Acid (NCFA) to help spread the word about the importance of folic acid for good health, and to help Americans identify simple steps to boost their intake, such as consuming enriched rice. Research shows that folic acid, a form of the water-soluble B-vitamin folate found in...