A study conducted by researchers at the University of California (Davis) found that women who consumed prenatal vitamins immediately before and during the first month of pregnancy were half as likely to have a child with autism than women who consumed no prenatal vitamins. Approximately 700 California families participated in the study, with children aged 2 to 5 who had autism.
Additional factors taken into account included gene mutations (one being a variant of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), which is generally associated with less efficient metabolism of folic acid and increased blood levels of homocysteine, and the other being a variant of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene, which is also linked to increased levels of homocysteine).
In sum, taking prenatal vitamins right before and during the first month of pregnancy is key to avoiding various birth defects as well as developmental disorders.
Tags: autism, birth defects, prenatal vitamins
This entry was posted on Sunday, May 29th, 2011 at 11:20 am and is filed under General Topics, smart mommy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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