According to a recent study, vitamin B9 supplements administered before and during early pregnancy reduce nearly 40% of the autism risk newborn.
Subject of numerous studies, autism remains today a complex disease with mysterious origins. Thus a potentially important discovery that reveals the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Conducted in Norway with 85,000 children, a large study suggests that vitamin B9 would be able to reduce by nearly 40% the risk of autism in infants (Asperger excepted) if the mother consumes front and early pregnancy.
According to the authors, vitamin B9 (also known as folic acid name) indeed play a protective role in the brain system of the fetus. This molecule is essential for DNA synthesis and the body’s repair process. It is found in large quantities in green leafy vegetables (spinach, chard …), peas, lentils, beans and eggs. In the United States, Canada and Chile, vitamin B9 is even added to flour to automatically provide this additional consumers.
Or, if you already knew that B9 deficiency during pregnancy significantly increased the risk of malformations of the primitive nervous system of the embryo, it was never established that folic acid supplementation may have to Other beneficial effects on the development of the brain and spinal cord of the fetus.
An effective and inexpensive means of prevention?
“These results confirm previous work on the importance of folate [vitamin B9] in the development of the brain and increases the possibility of a major inexpensive preventive measure to reduce the burden of autism,” said Dr. Ezra and Susser, an author of the study and professor of epidemiology at Columbia University (New York). Specifically, the study shows that mothers who took supplements of folic acid four weeks before the beginning of the pregnancy and eight weeks after, see their child have half the risk of significant delay in language development to three years .
Similar results were observed with a lower risk of autism in children whose mothers had used in early pregnancy mineral supplements and many vitamins, including folic acid. In contrast, the authors found no link between reduced risk of autism and other food supplements such as fish oil (omega-3) and other vitamins and minerals.
“The possibility that folic acid supplements reduce the risk of autism is very interesting and should be confirmed in other populations,” said Dr. Robert nevertheless Berry federal control Centers for Disease Prevention (CDC), which intends to motivate them to continue the work.
Source: Maxisciences