Prevention of neural tube defects in an urban health district.

I-8: Folic Acid and Female Fertility in Natural and Assisted Reproduction

Background Pre-conceptional supplementation with folic acid is recognized as essential for the prevention of neural tube defects. However, the reproductive effects of folic acid may extend well beyond this well-recognized effect and may have an important role in improving fertility and survival of the conceptus and fetus. MaterialsAndMethods We evaluated the association between pre-conceptional...

Effect of arsenic on neural tube in mouse embryo and relation to reduced folate carrier (RFC-1)

Arsenic is an important environmental toxicant which is usually found in drinking water in inorganic form. The hypothesis tested in this investigation is; arsenic exposure causes neural tube defects (NTDs) andthese defects of the central nervous system are more likely related to folate deficiency during fetal life. In this study, sodium arsenate was administered via intraperitoneal route at a r...

Case 16: Prevention of Neural-Tube Defects in Chile

C hile, a country credited for its rapid social and economic progress relative to its Latin American neighbors, again asserted its leadership in public health when in the year 2000 the government successfully implemented the cost-saving fortification of wheat flour with folic acid to prevent neural-tube defects, a congenital malformation. Like other micronutrient programs, the low cost of input...

CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION The Prevention of Neural Tube Defects with Folic Acid

Maternal alpha-fetoprotein screening: two years' experience in a low-risk district.

Over a two-year period, 3479 pregnant women in the Kings' Lynn Health District were screened for neural tube defects by estimation of maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein. Most pregnancies were scanned by sonar for fetal maturity. Eight women had fetuses with open neural tube defects; four with anencephaly were associated with very high alpha-fetoprotein values. Of the four with open neural tube de...