HEALTH REPORT - Folic Acid Reduces Fetal Deaths

HEALTH REPORT - October 23, 2002: Folic Acid Reduces Fetal Deaths

By Nancy Steinbach

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

A new study in Sweden has confirmed another important health effect of the B-vitamin known
as folic acid.

Researchers at the United States National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
worked with scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. They reported their
findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The researchers were looking for a possible link between folic acid and fetal death in the early
months of pregnancy¹. The study involved more than one-thousand-three-hundred pregnant
women in Uppsala County, Sweden. The researchers measured the amount of folic acid in their
blood during the sixth and twelfth weeks of pregnancy.

Four-hundred-sixty-eight of the women had miscarriages². Their babies died between six and twelve weeks of
pregnancy. Nine-hundred-twelve other women had normal pregnancies³.

The researchers found that the women with low levels of folic acid had a fifty percent increased risk of losing
their babies early in pregnancy. Extremely high levels of folic acid were found to have no effects on the
pregnancies.

The researchers say that every woman between the ages of fifteen and forty-four should be getting four-hundred
micrograms of folic acid every day. Earlier studies have shown that having enough folic acid in the early months
of pregnancy can reduce the risk of having a baby born with a serious birth defect of the brain or spine⁴. Experts
say women need to have enough folic acid even before they become pregnant.

Doctors say women of child-bearing age are not the only ones who need folic acid. The vitamin has been shown
to protect against heart disease and stroke in older people as well. And some studies are suggesting that folic acid
may reduce the chances of developing some kinds of cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

The human body cannot make folic acid. It must get the vitamin from foods. Foods rich in folic acid include
beans, green leafy vegetables, liver, eggs and fruits such as oranges and grapefruits. Medical experts say that
women who are not sure they are getting enough folic acid from their food should take a vitamin pill every day.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Nancy Steinbach.

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1 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

2 miscarriages   

流产( miscarriage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Miscarriages are usually caused by abnormal chromosome patterns in the fetus. 流产通常是因为胎儿的染色体异常造成的。
• Criminals go unpunishedareconvicted and are miscarriages of justice. 罪犯会逍遥法外，法律会伤及无辜，审判不公时有发生。

3 pregnancies   

怀孕，妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。

4 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。