Health Report - Folic Acid May Reduce Risk of Autism

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VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report in English. Women who took folic acid in early pregnancy less likely to have a child with autism than women in a recent study. Folic acid is a vitamin that helps the body build and repair cells. study, however, did not prove that folic acid can childhood autism. Children with autism have problems communicating and with other people. Researchers at the Norwegian Institute of Health looked at records of more than 85,000 children between 2002 and 2008. The study asked mothers to their diets and any vitamin supplements they took before during their pregnancies. Research leader Paul Suren and his compared the women who took folic acid supplements to who did not. He says the women who took acid in early pregnancy had a 40 percent reduction the risk of having a child with autismHe says best time to take folic acid is from four before to eight weeks after the start of pregnancy. researchers found that taking folic acid halfway through pregnancy no effect. The cause of autism is not known; genes may be involved in the disorder. Folic acid been linked to the development of a protective covering the neural tube in a fetus. Women who do get enough folic acid are at risk of giving to infants with part of their spinal cord or exposed. This disabling condition is called spina bifida. Dark vegetables, asparagus, broccoli and citrus fruit are rich sources folate. Folate is the naturally occurring form of folic . Folate is also found in peas, lentils, beans, eggs, and liver. For VOA Learning English, I'm Laurel Bowman. ( from a radio program broadcast 27Feb2013)

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