Folic Acid News and Research

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Folic acid is a B vitamin. It helps the body make healthy new cells. Everyone needs folic acid. For women who may get pregnant, it is really important. When a woman has enough folic acid in her body before and during pregnancy, it can prevent major birth defects of her baby's brain or spine.

Foods with folic acid in them include leafy green vegetables, fruits, dried beans, peas and nuts. Enriched breads, cereals and other grain products also contain folic acid. If you don't get enough folic acid from the foods you eat, you can also take it as a dietary supplement.

Scientists report new development toward long-sought insulin pill for diabetes treatment

Since insulin's crucial discovery nearly a century ago, countless diabetes patients have had to inject themselves with the life-saving medicine. Now scientists are reporting a new development toward a long-sought insulin pill that could save millions the pain of daily shots. Published in the ACS journal Biomacromolecules, the advance could someday not only eliminate the "ouch" factor, but also get needle-wary - and weary - patients to take their medicine when they should.

19 Dec 2013

Father's diet before conception plays crucial role in health of offspring

Mothers get all the attention. But a study led by McGill researcher Sarah Kimmins suggests that the father's diet before conception may play an equally important role in the health of their offspring. It also raises concerns about the long-term effects of current Western diets and of food insecurity.

11 Dec 2013

Sites selected by early human ancestors were abundant in nutrient-rich food, shows research

Research led by the University of Southampton has found that early humans were driven by a need for nutrient-rich food to select 'special places' in northern Europe as their main habitat.

11 Dec 2013

$Older men with low levels of vitamin B12 may have higher risk of fractures$

Older men with low levels of vitamin B12 may have higher risk of fractures

Older men who have low levels of vitamin B12 have a higher risk of having fractures. These are the findings of researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy as a part of an international study of a total of 1000 older men.

10 Dec 2013

New findings on effects of epilepsy on mother and child

New research pertaining to the latest findings on the effects of epilepsy on both the mother and child were presented at the American Epilepsy Society's 67th Annual Meeting in Washington DC. These studies explore folic acid use, the effect of surgery with intractable focal epilepsy, and antiepileptic drug exposure during breastfeeding.

10 Dec 2013

Pre-existing diabetes in pregnant women doubles risk of death of infants

New research shows that pre-existing diabetes in pregnant women greatly increases the risk of death of their unborn fetus by around four-and-a-half times compared with pregnant women without diabetes, and also almost doubles the risk of death of infants after birth.

28 Nov 2013

Results announced for Phase II PRECEDENT trial of vintafolide for treatment of platinum-resistant ovarian cancer

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, (NYSE: MRK) and Endocyte, Inc. (NASDAQ: ECYT) today announced the online publication of results from the randomized Phase II PRECEDENT trial for vintafolide (MK-8109/EC145), an investigational folate small molecule drug conjugate (SMDC), in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO), the official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

15 Oct 2013

Researchers discover severe health consequences of folic acid deficiency

Researchers from the universities of Calgary and Cambridge, UK, have discovered that a mutation in a gene necessary for the metabolism of folic acid not only impacts immediate offspring but can also have detrimental health effects, such as spina bifida and heart abnormalities, on subsequent generations.

29 Sep 2013

Folic acid deficiency may be associated with multi-generational impact on health

Folic acid deficiency can cause severe health problems in offspring, including spina bifida, heart defects and placental abnormalities. A study out today reveals that a mutation in a gene necessary for the metabolism of folic acid not only impacts the immediate offspring but can also have detrimental health effects on the next several generations.

27 Sep 2013

New evidence suggests that taking vitamin B supplements may help reduce risk of stroke

New evidence suggests that taking vitamin B supplements may help reduce the risk of stroke. The research appears in the September 18, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

19 Sep 2013

Pre-birth and early life nutrition affects children's cognitive, emotional and behavioural development

The statement "you are what you eat" is significant for the development of optimum mental performance in children as evidence is accumulating to show that nutrition pre-birth and in early life "programmes" long term health, well being, brain development and mental performance and that certain nutrients are important to this process.

13 Sep 2013

Study points to potential new therapeutic target for preventing birth defects in women with diabetes

A research team at the University of Maryland School of Medicine has identified a cell signaling pathway which plays a significant role in causing developmental defects of the fetal spinal cord and brain in babies of women with diabetes.

29 Aug 2013

New systematic review finds no evidence that antioxidants boost women's fertility

There is no high quality evidence that antioxidant supplements help to increase a woman's chances of having a baby, according to the results of a new systematic review. The review, published in The Cochrane Library, found women were no more likely to conceive when taking oral antioxidants and that there was limited information about potential harms.

5 Aug 2013

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals enters into agreement to acquire Talon Therapeutics

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company with fully-integrated commercial and drug development operations with a primary focus in hematology and oncology, today announced that, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, the company entered into an agreement to acquire Talon Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company based in South San Francisco, California, and expects to complete the acquisition within one day.

17 Jul 2013

Researchers develop new PET tracer to better monitor the progress of cancer and cancer therapy

Imaging techniques in cancer medicine provide far more than merely information on the scale and location of cancerous ulcers. There are modern methods that additionally characterise the tumour cells precisely, for instance by specific molecules they carry on their surface. Such additional information gives doctors key clues as to the precise cancer type and enables them to predict the probability that a patient will respond to a particular form of therapy.

6 Jul 2013

Laughing gas is associated with increased risk for perioperative cardiac events

A clinical trial published in the July issue of Anesthesiology may shed some light on whether nitrous oxide ("laughing gas") causes an increased risk for cardiac events, including heart attacks after surgery, particularly among high-risk patients.

20 Jun 2013

Nitrous oxide does not increase heart attack risk, study finds

Nitrous oxide - best known as laughing gas - is one of the world's oldest and most widely used anesthetics. Despite its popularity, however, experts have questioned its impact on the risk of a heart attack during surgery or soon afterward. But those fears are unfounded, a new study indicates.

19 Jun 2013

Link between folic acid supplements and reduced risk of autism

Women who take a vitamin B9 supplement (folic acid) during the beginning weeks of their pregnancy can cut the risk of having a child with autism in half. But the supplement has no effect if it is started more than 8 weeks into the pregnancy.

12 Mar 2013

Vitamin B12 and folate alleviate negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia

Adding the dietary supplements folate and vitamin B12 to treatment with antipsychotic medication improved a core symptom component of schizophrenia in a study of more than 100 patients.

7 Mar 2013

National Birth Defects Prevention Network honors BU researcher with Godfrey P. Oakley, Jr., Award

Allen A. Mitchell, MD, a professor of public health (epidemiology) and professor of pediatrics at the Boston University Schools of Public Health and Medicine, recently received the Godfrey P. Oakley, Jr., Award at the annual meeting of the National Birth Defects Prevention Network. Mitchell, who is also the director of Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center (SEC), was recognized for his significant lifetime contributions to the field of birth defects.

28 Feb 2013