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.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals to present results on RNAi therapeutics at ACS National Meeting

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc.,a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that it will make a total of 16 oral presentations at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Fall 2010 240th National Meeting & Exposition being held in Boston, Mass. from August 22-26, 2010.

24 Aug 2010

Educational intervention program encourages Latina women towards postpartum care

Latinas participating in an educational intervention program were two-and-a-half times more likely to seek postpartum care than were those who did not have access to a similar program, a new study finds.

20 Aug 2010

VitaPath Genetics launches VitaTrack Folate Tracker

VitaPath Genetics, the Spina Bifida Association and the National Council on Folic Acid today announced the launch of the free iPhone application—the VitaTrack Folate Tracker— which allows women to track their daily intake of folate and folic acid. Maintaining an adequate level of folic acid prior to and during pregnancy can reduce the risk of serious birth defects like Spina Bifida by up to 70%. Studies show that folic acid may also help prevent congenital heart disease, pre-term labor, and cleft lip and palate.

30 Jul 2010

Allos reports topline results from Phase 2b trial of FOLOTYN vs erlotinib in advanced NSCLC

Allos Therapeutics, Inc. today announced topline results from the Company's randomized Phase 2b investigational trial of FOLOTYN® (pralatrexate injection) versus erlotinib in patients with Stage IIIB/IV (advanced) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had received one or two prior systemic treatments including at least one prior platinum-based regimen. The objective of the trial was to estimate the efficacy of FOLOTYN compared to that of erlotinib as assessed by overall survival.

28 Jul 2010

Allos reports net loss of $20.0 million for second-quarter 2010

Allos Therapeutics, Inc. today reported its financial results and business highlights for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2010.

28 Jul 2010

Genzyme accepts CMS decision for delaying Renvela administration to dialysis patients

Genzyme Corp.today said it welcomed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' decision not to include oral medications without IV equivalents in Medicare's End Stage Renal Disease patient benefit. According to the final rule, these medications, including Genzyme's Renvela (sevelamer carbonate), will not be included in the bundle until January 1, 2014.

28 Jul 2010

Scientists develop novel chemotherapeutic method for anticancer drug delivery

Combining nature and Greek mythology, researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed a tiny "Trojan Horse" system for delivering cancer-fighting drugs. With this system, the drugs are delivered only once they are inside the cancerous cells, so there is no damage to the healthy cells in the surrounding area.

28 Jul 2010

Drugs can save African infants' lives

Researchers at the University of Sydney have found the combined intake of iron-folic acid supplements with World Health Organisation (WHO)-endorsed anti-malarial drugs during pregnancy could reduce early infant mortality in sub-Saharan Africa by a quarter.

22 Jul 2010

Study shows gene-environment interaction in congenital heart disease

A pregnant mother's diet may be able to interact with the genes her unborn child inherits and influence the type or severity of birth defect according to research funded by the Wellcome Trust and the British Heart Foundation. The study, published in the journal Human Molecular Genetics, suggests that mothers who eat a high fat diet before and through pregnancy could be inadvertently putting the health of their offspring at risk.

7 Jul 2010

Folic acid and vitamin B12 lower homocysteine levels in patients who experience heart attack: JAMA

Patients who had experienced a heart attack and lowered their blood homocysteine levels with folic acid and vitamin B12 supplementation did not have an associated lower risk of heart attack, coronary death or stroke, according to a study in the June 23/30 issue of JAMA. However, the researchers did find that folic acid supplementation did not increase the risk of cancer, which has been speculated.

23 Jun 2010

$Data from Phase 1 study of FOLOTYN in patients with relapsed or refractory CTCL presented at EHA 2010$

Data from Phase 1 study of FOLOTYN in patients with relapsed or refractory CTCL presented at EHA 2010

Allos Therapeutics, Inc. today announced updated data from its ongoing dose finding Phase 1 study of FOLOTYN (pralatrexate injection) in patients with relapsed or refractory cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, a group of often slow-growing non-Hodgkins lymphomas that primarily manifest in the skin. These data were presented during a poster presentation at the European Hematology Association meeting being held June 10-13, 2010 in Barcelona, Spain.

11 Jun 2010

Pecans may delay progression of age-related motor neuron degeneration: Study

Eating about a handful of pecans each day may play a role in protecting the nervous system, according to a new animal study published in the current issue of Current Topics in Nutraceutical Research. The study, conducted at the Center for Cellular Neurobiology at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, suggests adding pecans to your diet may delay the progression of age-related motor neuron degeneration. This may include diseases like amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

9 Jun 2010

Allos Therapeutics reports data from PROPEL trial of FOLOTYN in patients with PTCL

Allos Therapeutics, Inc. today reported new analyses of data from the Company's pivotal PROPEL trial of FOLOTYN (pralatrexate injection) in patients with relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma.

7 Jun 2010

Allos Therapeutics' FOLOTYN data to be presented at 46th ASCO and 15th EHA Congress

Allos Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that data on FOLOTYN® (pralatrexate injection) will be presented at two upcoming medical conferences: the 46th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), which will be held June 4-8 in Chicago, Illinois, and at the 15th Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA), which will be held June 10-13 in Barcelona, Spain.

2 Jun 2010

Folate supplementation thwarts heart birth defects induced by alcohol exposure in early pregnancy

A new animal study has found that high levels of the B-vitamin folate (folic acid) prevented heart birth defects induced by alcohol exposure in early pregnancy, a condition known as fetal alcohol syndrome.

25 May 2010

Combination therapy improves patients with depression symptoms: Study

New data presented today at the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting suggests a benefit to combining L-methylfolate, a prescription medical food called Deplin, with an antidepressant at the start of treatment. This retrospective analysis showed a significantly greater improvement in depression symptoms in a shorter period of time, when patients with Major Depressive Disorder were started on combination therapy.

25 May 2010

State roundup: Genetic testing on campus, Texas docs in Mass., and more

"A plan by the University of California, Berkeley to voluntarily test the DNA of incoming freshman has come under fire from critics who said the school was pushing an unproven technology on impressionable students. The university has said it will send test kits to 5,500 new students to analyze genes that help control the body's responses to alcohol, dairy products and folic acid" (Wohlsen, 5/21).

24 May 2010

Eli Lilly to present results of two Phase II trials evaluating ALIMTA in combination with chemotherapy, radiation

Results of two Phase II trials evaluating ALIMTA (pemetrexed for injection) in combination with a platinum chemotherapy and radiation for patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer will be presented by Eli Lilly and Company at the 46th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago, Ill., on June 6, 2010.

21 May 2010

Folic acid supplement may improve blood flow in young amenorrheic runners

A study led by sports medicine researcher Anne Hoch, D.O. at The Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee has found that oral folic acid may provide a safe and inexpensive treatment to improve vascular function in young female runners who are amenorrheic (not menstruating).

11 May 2010

Study examines social pressures, attitudes on pregnancy

For years, a widely held assumption was that women of childbearing age fell neatly into two camps: those trying to have children, and those not trying to have children.

7 May 2010

Folic Acid News and Research

Further Reading

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals to present results on RNAi therapeutics at ACS National Meeting

Educational intervention program encourages Latina women towards postpartum care

VitaPath Genetics launches VitaTrack Folate Tracker

Allos reports topline results from Phase 2b trial of FOLOTYN vs erlotinib in advanced NSCLC

Allos reports net loss of $20.0 million for second-quarter 2010

Genzyme accepts CMS decision for delaying Renvela administration to dialysis patients

Scientists develop novel chemotherapeutic method for anticancer drug delivery

Drugs can save African infants' lives

Study shows gene-environment interaction in congenital heart disease

Folic acid and vitamin B12 lower homocysteine levels in patients who experience heart attack: JAMA

Data from Phase 1 study of FOLOTYN in patients with relapsed or refractory CTCL presented at EHA 2010

Pecans may delay progression of age-related motor neuron degeneration: Study

Allos Therapeutics reports data from PROPEL trial of FOLOTYN in patients with PTCL

Allos Therapeutics' FOLOTYN data to be presented at 46th ASCO and 15th EHA Congress

Folate supplementation thwarts heart birth defects induced by alcohol exposure in early pregnancy

Combination therapy improves patients with depression symptoms: Study

State roundup: Genetic testing on campus, Texas docs in Mass., and more

Eli Lilly to present results of two Phase II trials evaluating ALIMTA in combination with chemotherapy, radiation

Folic acid supplement may improve blood flow in young amenorrheic runners

Study examines social pressures, attitudes on pregnancy

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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