RESEARCH from Curtin University in WA has linked folic acid and multivitamin supplements during pregnancy with reduced risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in kids.
The team analysed studies that looked at prenatal folic acid or multivitamin supplementation during pregnancy.
They found that maternal prenatal multivitamin supplementation was associated with a 34% reduced risk of ASD, while folic acid was associated with a 30% reduced risk.
Obstetrics and gynaecology professor David Ellwood of Griffith University said the review was timely, and "of considerable interest given that it comes on the back of recent concerns about a possible link between maternal paracetamol ingestion and ASD".
"One issue not discussed is if these results should lead to recommending folate supplementation throughout pregnancy, as opposed to current guidelines aimed at reducing the risk of neural tube defects by taking periconceptional folate," Professor Ellwood noted.
"The authors discuss the biological plausibility of how ASD could be influenced by folate supplementation, but if the mechanisms involve an effect beyond the periconceptional period, it may be that supplementation should continue beyond this time."
Read the paper HERE.
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