A recently published study reveals that woman who used folic acid supplements prior to as well as during their pregnancies were nearly 40% less apt to have children that would be diagnosed later with autism. A great deal of interest in the study has been taken by members of the medical community.
Over a number of years, the amount of children diagnosed with one of the different autism spectrum disorders has made a dramatic increase. Today, one child in 88 is affected by the disorders and that has caused an increased amount of interest in finding ways to both better treat and prevent the disorder.
The new study involved more than 85,000 children born in Norway. Doctors involved in the study requested pregnant women to fill out questionnaires about supplements use both prior to and while pregnant. The children born between 2002 and 2008 were then followed by researchers, for an average of 6 years.
In this study, the time period critical for folic acid consumption was four weeks before conception through the eighth week of the pregnancy. Those women who took supplements of folic acid during that period had a 27% lower risk of having a child that would develop an autism spectrum disorder, Asperger’s syndrome or autism disorder.
Women using folic acid for the same period were also 40% less apt to have a child with autism disorder.
