Researchers link asthma risk to folic acid during pregnancy
• Study showed no hazard from leafy vegetables• UK experts emphasise benefits of supplementsBabies born to women who have taken folic acid supplements during their pregnancy are up to 30% more likely than other children to develop asthma, researchers have found.Mothers-to-be who take folic acid when they are between 30 and 34 weeks pregnant as a health measure may inadvertently prompt the breathing condition in their offspring, a new study says.The research, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, claims that its findings may help explain the huge global rise over the last 50 years in asthma, especially among children, which has puzzled experts and led to speculation over the causes of the increase."We believe that this is the first published study in humans to demonstrate that increasing consumption of folic acid, and specifically supplemental folate during late pregnancy, significantly increases the risk of physician-diagnosed asthma in the child at...
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