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CDC scientists
collaborated with Beijing Medical University to evaluate the outcome of
pregnancy among women who were asked to take a pill containing only 400
micrograms (µg) of folic acid daily from the time of their premarital
examination until the end of their first trimester of pregnancy. This
collaboration was part of a public health campaign conducted from 1993
through 1995 in an area in northern China with high rates of neural tube
defects and one in southern China with low rates.
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The daily ingestion
of a pill containing only 400 µg of folic acid before and during
early pregnancy reduced a woman’s risk of having a fetus or infant
with a neural tube defect. This reduction occurred both in an area of
China in which the frequency of neural tube defects is high and one in
which it is low.
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The greatest
preventive effect (85% reduction in risk) occurred in the northern
region of China among women who started taking pills before they
became pregnant and who had high pill-taking compliance.
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The preventive
effect (41% reduction in risk) in the southern region of China, in
which the baseline rate is similar to that seen in the United States
and other countries, suggests that women in these countries may reduce
their risk of having a fetus or infant with a neural tube defect by
consuming only 400 µg of folic acid on a daily basis before and
during early pregnancy.
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These results are
being used to support and promote activities to prevent neural tube
defects around the world.
Results published in : New
England Journal of Medicine 1999;341:1485-1491. (Abstract)
Date:
June 17, 2005
Content source: National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental
Disabilities
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