Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. This study suggests a possible link between folic acid intake during pregnancy and congenital heart defects.
A significant birth defect in children is congenital heart defects (CHD), which affect 10,000 newborns everyday worldwide (1) and cost the U.S. healthcare system $2.6 billion in 2004 (2). A new study (3) suggests a possible link between folic acid intake during pregnancy and CHD’s. In the study, researchers identified CHD’s between 1990 and 2005 in Quebec, Canada, to see if the fortification measures implemented in Quebec in 1999 (where there was a recommendation of 400 – 1000 mg of folic acid per day (4)) had any effect on the prevalence of CHD’s.
The researchers found that when comparing the occurrence of CHD’s from 1990-1999 and 1990-2005, there were 6% fewer CHD’s from 1999-2005 (1.47 vs. 1.64 CHD’s per 1000 births). The researchers stated that “this did not occur by chance” since the interaction between period (before/after fortification) and calendar year was significant (P<0.001).
When suggesting just how folic acid could help heart formation during pregnancy, the researchers admitted that the exact mechanism “remains unclear” but that “folic acid might have a role in the migration” of heart cells during the developmental period during pregnancy (5,6). For the researchers, this study “support[s] the [idea] that folic acid intake in the period around conception reduces the birth prevalence of severe congenital heart defects.”
Source: Ionescu-Ittu, Raluca, et al. “Prevalence of severe congenital heart disease after folic acid fortification of grain products: time trend analysis in Quebec, Canada.” Bmj 338 (2009): b1673
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Posted July 3, 2009.
References:
- Botto LD. Vitamin supplements and the risk for congenital anomalies other than neural tube defects. American Journal of Medical Genetics 2004; 125C(1): 12-21.
- “Congenital Heart Defects In Children Fact Sheet” posted on The American Heart Association website.
- Ionescu-Ittu R. Prevalence of severe congenital heart disease after folic acid fortification of grain products: time trend analysis in Quebec, Canada. BMJ 2009;338:b1673.
- Recommendations on the use of folic acid for the prevention of neural tube defects. J SOGC 1993;(suppl):41-6.
- Tang LS, Wlodarczyk BJ, Santillano DR, Miranda RC, Finnell RH. Developmental consequences of abnormal folate transport during murine heart morphogenesis. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol 2004;70:449-58.
- Van Beynum IM, Kapusta L, den Heijer M, Vermeulen SH, Kouwenberg M, Daniels O, et al. Maternal MTHFR 677C>T is a risk factor for congenital heart defects: effect modification by periconceptional folate supplementation. Eur Heart J 2006;27:981-7.
