Children folic acid

Side effects of valproate are few. It causes thinning and curling of the hair in about 10% of patients. It is potentially hepatotoxic but this is rare. Valproate has been linked with increased risk of neural tube defects in the unborn child. Folic acid supplements are recommended as a precaution. 

Folic acid is a member of the vitamin B complex found in green plants, fresh fruit, yeast, and liver. Folic acid takes its name from folium, Latin for leaf. Pterin compounds are named from the Greek word for wing because these substances were first identified in insect wings. Two pterins are familiar to any child who has seen (and chased) the common yellow sulfur butterfly and its white counterpart, the cabbage butterfly. Xanthopterin and leu-... 

Give supplemental folic acid, 1-4 mg daily, to all women of child-bearing potential Use monotherapy whenever possible Use the lowest doses that control seizures Continue pharmacotherapy that best controls seizures prior to pregnancy... 

Folic acid supplementation with 1 mg daily generally is recommended in adult SCD patients, women considering pregnancy, and any SCD patient with chronic hemolysis.6 Because of accelerated erythropoiesis, these patients have an increased need for folic acid. There are conflicting studies in the SCD population, especially among infants and children, but if the child has chronic hemolysis, supplementation is recommended.21... 

Deficiency of folic acid is a common nutritional problem of worldwide importance.13 A recommended daily intake is 0.2 mg, but because of the association between low folic acid intake and neural tube defects in infants, women of child-bearing age should have 0.4 mg / day.c e... 

Recommended daily requirement [RDA) or adequate intake CAQ for men and nonpregnant women over 20 years old. Recommended values for certain vitamins Ce.g., folic acid) may be higher in women who are pregnant. Values for children are typically lower, and are adjusted according to the child s age. 

Prevention of fetal neural tube defect (spina bifida). Folic acid supplementation taken before conception and during the early weeks of pregnancy has been shown in an 8-year trial to prevent the condition in pregnancies subsequent to an affected birth. Women hoping to conceive and who have had an affected child are advised to take folic acid 5 mg/day. To prevent a first occurrence 400 micrograms/day should be taken both before conception, or as soon as possible after diagnosis. In both cases folate supplement should be taken for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. 

Folic acid is a nutritional supplement frequently used during periods of deficiency. Folic acid needs increase during chronic diseases, such as malabsorption liver disease, alcoholism, and anticonvulsant or oral contraceptive use. Folic acid supplementation during pregnancy is strongly recommended to prevent neural tube defects to the unborn child. The active form of folic acid, folinic acid, is used in the management of certain medical diseases (e.g., patients taking methotrexate, and 5-fluorouracil). 

Another variant has been found affecting two sisters (N5, N6). This was characterized by the urinary excretion of large quantities of hydantoin-5-propionic acid and formiminoglutamic acid, and was unresponsive to treatment with folic acid. One had retarded speech, but this was the only defect, and the other child was normal. 

There have been other single reports of megaloblastic anemia associated with an apparent abnormality of folate metabolism. One child had a normal serum folate of 6 p,g/liter, an erythrocyte folate of 1480 p.g/liter, and a megaloblastic anemia which responded to treatment with folic acid (VI). Lampkin (Lll) described two sisters with a severe megaloblastic anemia and normal vitamin 6 2 folate levels. Absorption of vitamin 6, 2 normal and both patients excreted an increased amount of formiminoglutamic acid. It was thought that they required both vitamin B 2 and folate to restore normoblastic hemopoiesis. 

The mechanisms by which vitamins prevent illnesses are not weU understood, and the amounts needed to lower risks for certain disease conditions may be higher than the current recommended levels for preventing nutritional deficiencies. For example, the Institute of Medicine recommends that to prevent neural tube birth defects, women of child-bearing age should consume 400 Xg of folic acid per day (but not more than 1000 Xg/day) from fortified foods and/or dietary supplements in addition to folates obtained from a varied diet. " < Ascorbic acid intakes of 80-200mg daily (8-20 times the amounts needed to prevent scurvy) may be necessary to enhance certain physiological functions and minimize specific disease risks. " ... 

In 1992, the US Public Health Service issued a recommendation that all women capable of becoming pregnant consume 400 tg of folic acid daily to reduce the risk of having a child born with a neural tube defect (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1992). Food fortification was implemented to reduce the number of pregnancies affected by NTDs (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2005). Estimates have shown that the additional intake of folic acid through food fortification has been effective in reducing the prevalence of NTDs at birth. 

In an analysis of data from the Mother and Child Cohort study in Norway, where foods are not fortified, wheezing and lower respiratory tract infections during the first 18 months of life were examined in 32 077 children born between 2000 and 2005 in relation to maternal reported intake of folic acid 400 mg/day and cod liver oil 5 ml/day [29 , 30" ]. The relative risks in the infants of mothers who took folate supplements during the first trimester were 1.06 (95% Cl = 1.03, 1.10) for wheezing, 1.09 (95% Cl = 1.02, 1.15) for lower respiratory tract infections, and 1.24 (95% Cl = 1.09, 1.41) for hospitalization associated with lower respiratory tract infections. Although small, these relative risks were statistically significant. 

HSberg SE, London SJ, Stigum H, Nafstad P, Nystad W. Folic acid supplements in pregnancy and early childhood respiratory health. Arch Dis Child 2009 94(3) 180. ... 

Papadopovdou E, Stratakis N, RoumeKotaki T, Sarri K, Merlo DF, Kogevinas M, et al. The effect of high doses of folic acid and iron supplementation in early-to-mid pregnancy on prematurity and fetal growth retardation the mother-child cohort study in Crete, Greece (Rhea study). Eur J Nutr 2013 52(l) 327-36. 

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