Folic Acid May Prevent Some Heart, Skeletal, Stomach and Kidney Defects

According to a study recently published in Birth Defects Research (Part A), mandatory fortification of the U.S. grain supply with folic acid may have helped to reduce the rate of transposition of the great arteries, cleft palate, pyloric stenosis, limb reduction defects and omphalocele (organs outside the abdomen). In Hispanic women, substantial decreases were also noted for renal agenesis (a fatal kidney defect) and common truncus (a heart defect). Upper limb reduction defects also decreased among children born to Hispanics. The study was conducted by the National Birth Defects Prevention Network.

Canfield MA, Collins JS, Botto LD et al. Changes in the Birth Prevalence of Selected Birth Defects after Grain Fortification with Folic Acid in the United States: Findings from a Multi-State Population Based Study. Birth Defects Research, Part !. 2005-73:679-689.