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Essential for life

Women who are planning on having a baby should take adequate folic acid supplements

In 1931, Lucy Wills was studying anaemia in pregnancy among female textile workers in Bombay. She discovered that a large cell type of anaemia could be prevented by adding yeast to a diet otherwise deficient in Vitamin B. The crucial factor in yeast extract was folic acid, the synthetic form of folate.

Folate (Latin folium for leaf) is a water-soluble B vitamin that occurs naturally in food. It is essential for making DNA and RNA- the building blocks of life. Apart from supporting the fast turnover of cells in the bone marrow and the gut's inner lining in adults and children, folate is especially important for the rapid cell division and DNA and RNA formation of infancy and pregnancy. Folate also helps prevent cancer-causing changes to DNA.

Folate-rich foods include leafy green vegetables like spinach, fruit, dried beans, peas, parboiled rice and liver. Foods fortified with folic acid are also excellent sources of this vitamin. Because it is a water-soluble vitamin, draining excess water after cooking decreases the folate content of food. Adults need 400 micrograms of folate per day. One cup of raw spinach contains 60 microgram of folate, and half cup of frozen green peas contains 50 microgram. Pregnant women need 600 microgram of folate per day.

Folate is a critical vitamin for all women who might become pregnant. Adequate folate intake in the time just before and just after conception protects the foetus against neural tube defects. Since most pregnancies are unplanned, all women who might become pregnant need to be taking folate-rich foods daily. Folate deficiency is a major cause of megaloblastic anaemia. Folate deficiency elevates blood levels of homocysteine, an amino acid, and increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Non-specific symptoms of folate deficiency include diarrhoea and loss of appetite.Apart from pregnant and lactating women, alcohol consumers and abusers, those undergoing dialysis, people having malabsorption and liver disease have increased folate requirement.

Phenytoin and primidone-drugs used to control epilepsy - increase folate requirement dramatically. Metformin, used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus, barbiturates used as sedatives, methotrexate, used in some cancers and rheumatoid arthritis, certain diuretics and anti-inflammatory drugs like sulfasalazine increase folate requirement.

RAJIV. M

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