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Canada has mandated folic acid fortification of flour since 1998 which has resulted in a 42% decrease in neural tube defects. [28] Fortification of wheat and corn flour, milk and rice is required in Costa Rica which has led to a reduction of neural tube defects of as much as 60%. [26]
A deficiency of folate itself does not cause neural tube defects. The association seen between reduced neural tube defects and folic acid supplementation is due to a gene-environment interaction such as vulnerability caused by the C677T methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) variant.
Valproic acid, one of the most commonly prescribed epilepsy treatment drugs, also used to treat certain psychological conditions such as bipolar disorder, is a known inhibitor of folic acid, and as such, has been shown to cause birth defects, including neural tube defects, plus increased risk for children having cognitive impairment and autism ...
For example, a lack of folic acid, a B vitamin, in the diet of a mother can cause cellular neural tube deformities that result in spina bifida. Congenital disorders such as a neural tube deformity can be prevented by 72% if the mother consumes 4 mg of folic acid before the conception and after twelve weeks of pregnancy. [70]
Research has shown the lack of folic acid (folate) is a contributing factor in the pathogenesis of neural tube defects, including spina bifida. Supplementation of the mother's diet with folate can reduce the incidence of neural tube defects by about 70%, and can also decrease the severity of these defects when they occur.
Folic acid has been shown to be important in neural tube formation since at least 1991, [6] [7] and as a subtype of neural tube defect, folic acid may play a role in anencephaly. Studies have shown that the addition of folic acid to the diet of women of child-bearing age may significantly reduce, although not eliminate, the incidence of neural ...
Maternal folic acid intake around the time of conception prevents neural tube defects. [120] Furthermore, folic acid intake was recently associated with incidence of autism. [121] Enriched white flour is fortified with folic acid in the United States and many other countries. However the European Union does not have mandatory folic acid ...
Treatment requires taking folinic acid for a significant period of time. [3] Fewer than 20 people with the FOLR1 defect have been described in the medical literature. [ 2 ] Treatment with pharmacologic doses of folinic acid has also led to reversal of some symptoms in children diagnosed with cerebral folate deficiency and testing positive for ...