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Folates and Prevention of Neural-Tube Diseases

Received: 26 December 2012    Accepted:     Published: 10 March 2013
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Abstract

Neural tube defects (NTDs) are congenital malformations of the brain and spinal cord caused by failure of the neural tube to close between 21 and 28 days following conception. Each year almost 400.000 infants are born with NTDs all over the world. Although many advances have been made in the spina bifida’s treatment and have led to an increased life expectancy and an improved life quality, no treatment exists that will completely eliminate the serious disability or premature mortality associated with it. For such a reason, reducing the risk of NTDs is an important goal. It is widely ac-cepted that adequate maternal consumption of folic acid before pregnancy and during the early weeks of gestation can reduce the danger of having a child with a neural tube defect (NTD). As a result, public health authorities worldwide have recommended consuming 400 μg folic acid per day during the periconceptional period in order to decrease the risk of first occurrence NTDs . This recommended dose is based mainly on the amount of folic acid associated with a reduction in NTDs in the majority of epidemiological studies. Literature data asserts that folic acid can prevent about 70% of NTD conceptions while folic acid-containing multivitamin can prevent about 90%; the diagnostic efficacy of ultrasound is nearly 100% in anencephalic fetuses and about 80% in fetuses with different manifestations of spina bifida. A bibliographical research regarding folate and NTD prevention, between 1988 and 2012, was done. The words used for Literature research were: Folic Acid, Spina bifida, Neural Tube Defects, Malformations. Search engines employed were: Medline, Pubmed, PopLine and the most relevant reports on the topic.

Published in Science Journal of Clinical Medicine (Volume 2, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.sjcm.20130202.13
Page(s) 47-51
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Folic Acid, Spina bifida, Neural Tube Defects, Malformations

References
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  • APA Style

    Leanza V., Stracquadanio M., Ciotta L., Pafumi C., Giannone T. T., et al. (2013). Folates and Prevention of Neural-Tube Diseases. Science Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2(2), 47-51. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjcm.20130202.13

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    ACS Style

    Leanza V.; Stracquadanio M.; Ciotta L.; Pafumi C.; Giannone T. T., et al. Folates and Prevention of Neural-Tube Diseases. Sci. J. Clin. Med. 2013, 2(2), 47-51. doi: 10.11648/j.sjcm.20130202.13

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    AMA Style

    Leanza V., Stracquadanio M., Ciotta L., Pafumi C., Giannone T. T., et al. Folates and Prevention of Neural-Tube Diseases. Sci J Clin Med. 2013;2(2):47-51. doi: 10.11648/j.sjcm.20130202.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.sjcm.20130202.13,
      author = {Leanza V. and Stracquadanio M. and Ciotta L. and Pafumi C. and Giannone T. T. and Giunta M. R. and Leanza G. and Mayada Chammas and Fawzi Chammas and Zarbo G.},
      title = {Folates and Prevention of Neural-Tube Diseases},
      journal = {Science Journal of Clinical Medicine},
      volume = {2},
      number = {2},
      pages = {47-51},
      doi = {10.11648/j.sjcm.20130202.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjcm.20130202.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjcm.20130202.13},
      abstract = {Neural tube defects (NTDs) are congenital malformations of the brain and spinal cord caused by failure of the neural tube to close between 21 and 28 days following conception. Each year almost 400.000 infants are born with NTDs all over the world. Although many advances have been made in the spina bifida’s treatment and have led to an increased life expectancy and an improved life quality, no treatment exists that will completely eliminate the serious disability or premature mortality associated with it. For such a reason, reducing the risk of NTDs is an important goal. It is widely ac-cepted that adequate maternal consumption of folic acid before pregnancy and during the early weeks of gestation can reduce the danger of having a child with a neural tube defect (NTD). As a result, public health authorities worldwide have recommended consuming 400 μg folic acid per day during the periconceptional period in order to decrease the risk of first occurrence NTDs . This recommended dose is based mainly on the amount of folic acid associated with a reduction in NTDs in the majority of epidemiological studies. Literature data asserts that folic acid can prevent about 70% of NTD conceptions while folic acid-containing multivitamin can prevent about 90%; the diagnostic efficacy of ultrasound is nearly 100% in anencephalic fetuses and about 80% in fetuses with different manifestations of spina bifida. A bibliographical research regarding folate and NTD prevention, between 1988 and 2012, was done. The words used for Literature research were: Folic Acid, Spina bifida, Neural Tube Defects, Malformations. Search engines employed were: Medline, Pubmed, PopLine and the most relevant reports on the topic.},
     year = {2013}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Folates and Prevention of Neural-Tube Diseases
    AU  - Leanza V.
    AU  - Stracquadanio M.
    AU  - Ciotta L.
    AU  - Pafumi C.
    AU  - Giannone T. T.
    AU  - Giunta M. R.
    AU  - Leanza G.
    AU  - Mayada Chammas
    AU  - Fawzi Chammas
    AU  - Zarbo G.
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    T2  - Science Journal of Clinical Medicine
    JF  - Science Journal of Clinical Medicine
    JO  - Science Journal of Clinical Medicine
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2327-2732
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjcm.20130202.13
    AB  - Neural tube defects (NTDs) are congenital malformations of the brain and spinal cord caused by failure of the neural tube to close between 21 and 28 days following conception. Each year almost 400.000 infants are born with NTDs all over the world. Although many advances have been made in the spina bifida’s treatment and have led to an increased life expectancy and an improved life quality, no treatment exists that will completely eliminate the serious disability or premature mortality associated with it. For such a reason, reducing the risk of NTDs is an important goal. It is widely ac-cepted that adequate maternal consumption of folic acid before pregnancy and during the early weeks of gestation can reduce the danger of having a child with a neural tube defect (NTD). As a result, public health authorities worldwide have recommended consuming 400 μg folic acid per day during the periconceptional period in order to decrease the risk of first occurrence NTDs . This recommended dose is based mainly on the amount of folic acid associated with a reduction in NTDs in the majority of epidemiological studies. Literature data asserts that folic acid can prevent about 70% of NTD conceptions while folic acid-containing multivitamin can prevent about 90%; the diagnostic efficacy of ultrasound is nearly 100% in anencephalic fetuses and about 80% in fetuses with different manifestations of spina bifida. A bibliographical research regarding folate and NTD prevention, between 1988 and 2012, was done. The words used for Literature research were: Folic Acid, Spina bifida, Neural Tube Defects, Malformations. Search engines employed were: Medline, Pubmed, PopLine and the most relevant reports on the topic.
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Author Information
  • Istituto Di Patologia Ostetrica e Ginecologica, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Policlinico – Vittorio Emanuele, Catania – Direttore Prof. Giuseppe Zarbo

  • Istituto Di Patologia Ostetrica e Ginecologica, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Policlinico – Vittorio Emanuele, Catania – Direttore Prof. Giuseppe Zarbo

  • Istituto Di Patologia Ostetrica e Ginecologica, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Policlinico – Vittorio Emanuele, Catania – Direttore Prof. Giuseppe Zarbo

  • Istituto Di Patologia Ostetrica e Ginecologica, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Policlinico – Vittorio Emanuele, Catania – Direttore Prof. Giuseppe Zarbo

  • Istituto Di Patologia Ostetrica e Ginecologica, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Policlinico – Vittorio Emanuele, Catania – Direttore Prof. Giuseppe Zarbo

  • Istituto Di Patologia Ostetrica e Ginecologica, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Policlinico – Vittorio Emanuele, Catania – Direttore Prof. Giuseppe Zarbo

  • Istituto Di Patologia Ostetrica e Ginecologica, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Policlinico – Vittorio Emanuele, Catania – Direttore Prof. Giuseppe Zarbo

  • Istituto Di Patologia Ostetrica e Ginecologica, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Policlinico – Vittorio Emanuele, Catania – Direttore Prof. Giuseppe Zarbo

  • Istituto Di Patologia Ostetrica e Ginecologica, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Policlinico – Vittorio Emanuele, Catania – Direttore Prof. Giuseppe Zarbo

  • Istituto Di Patologia Ostetrica e Ginecologica, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Policlinico – Vittorio Emanuele, Catania – Direttore Prof. Giuseppe Zarbo

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