Folic Acid and Autism

Taking folic acid prior to conceiving and early in pregnancy may lower your child’s risk of autism.

Women thinking about having a baby are encouraged to take folic acid prior to conceiving to reduce the risk of neural tube defects. It was proven that folic acid supplements around the time of pregnancy prevent neural tube defects. The neural tube is the origin of the human brain in the fetus and closes very early in development and the neural tube defect is when this tube doesn’t close properly.

Now a large Norwegian study suggests folic acid supplements may also have a protective effect against autism.

In the study, researchers compared children whose mothers took folic acid supplements four weeks before… and eight weeks into their pregnancies with children whose mothers did not take the supplements. Looking closely at the data, researchers discovered that moms who took folic acid early in pregnancy had a 39% lower risk of having a child with autistic disorder although no association was found with Asperger syndrome or PDD-NOS

As always, it’s important to talk to your doctor about prenatal vitamins with folic acid… before you get pregnant.