TAKING folic acid or multivitamins during or before pregnancy slashes the risk of children developing autism by almost three- quarters, research has revealed.
A study of more than 45,000 youngsters found those whose mothers had used the supplements were 73 per cent less likely to develop it.
The finding follows research last year that also suggested they have a protective effect – and could have “important public health implications”.
Interestingly, maternal exposure to either folic acid, multivitamins or both up to two years before pregnancy also reduced the risk by 61 per cent.
Professor Stephen Levine, of Haifa University, Israel, said the phenomenon could be down to a process known as “epigenetic modifications”.
These are alterations in gene expression that can’t be explained by changes in the genetic sequence, so are caused by environmental factors such as diet.
Mr Levine said: “Maternal folic acid and/or multivitamin supplement exposure before and during pregnancy reduced the risk of autism spectrum disorder in offspring.”
The results are consistent with those from a Norwegian study showing maternal folic acid use from four weeks before and eight weeks into pregnancy protects against autism.
Mr Levine added: “This interval is considered relevant to the development of the central nervous system, includes neural tube closure, and is implicated in the development of basic brain structures.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel