New study links folic acid supplements to asthma

[longwayaway]

I never wanted to take those supplements in the first place! Gah! Too late now

www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/nov/04/asthma-folic-acid-pregnancy-research

Worth flagging this piece of the research as medical advice is to take this in first trimester only.

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.

I actually wondered if I needed to keep taking them after the 20 week ultrasound showed no spina bifida. Next time I'll know.

The whole point is to take them before conception and during the first trimester ,to prevent neural tube defects (sorry if thats misspelt) of which spina bifada is the far end of the spectrum ,but also includes other defects such as cleft palate /hair lip. Once the feotus is formed then there is little point continuing . Plus a good balanced diet would normally contain enough folic acid ,especially if you are a marmite junkie like myself

Can anyone suggest a pregnancy multivit that does not contain folic acid?

exactly! I have all these multivitamins now that I bulk bought.

I am 25 weeks and want to continue taking my pregnacare with omega but it also has folic acid?! now really confused as to what to do for the best! I take the supplement because my job often means I have to grab something unhealthy at lunch and sometimes dinner, so I make sure my vitimim levels are kept topped up with the supplement. It is all very well and good to say get nutrients from normal food but not always practical when your lunch sometimes has to be a packet of crisps!

There was another thread about this; I stopped taking Pregnacare after reading that article (at about 23 weeks). There don't seem to be any pregnancy supplements without folic acid, and non-pregnancy ones are quite different (e.g. they have vitamin A, which you have to be careful about during pregnancy). I'm trying to eat a healthy diet, but if anyone knows of any suitable supplements..

This is not a good scientific trial; it was not randomised or controlled.

'"The study published this week suggesting a link between folic acid in pregnancy and subsequent increased risk of childhood asthma is not a randomised trial. It relied on a postal questionnaire with a 76% response rate.'

So, for example, the 24% of people who did not respond perhaps all had asthma-free babies.

Not to say there is no link, but I would not rely on this specific trial to make a decision. Scaremongering media!

Longwayaway, I think your thread title is a bit misleading - folic acid in the first trimester was NOT shown to be a problem, the link was only from 30-34 weeks.

I just wanted to clarify for anyone who hasn't looked at the article - it is still very important to keep taking folic acid in the first trimester.

I also agree it was not a good study and there should have been further studies before this was released to the mainstream media.

I did take a look at the original paper (available for free here: aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/kwp315v1.pdf) as I am used to media "scaremongering" and wanted to know what the researchers actually concluded. Yes, it was self-reported data, but they were asked to report whether their physician diagnosed their child with asthma - not whether they had diagnosed their child with asthma. This is a follow-up to a previous study on 18-month olds and another study on mice, both of which suggested cause for concern.

I agree with the recommendation to take folic acid before pregnancy and during the 1st trimester but am a little miffed that I was told to continue taking it past a point where there was no real evidence that it would be helpful - and in fact there may now be evidence that it is detrimental. That's my take on it.

More scaremongering by the media. The Guardian is a rubbish newspaper anyway. It has been discredited already as someone above stated. Funny, how the BBC haven't covered the story. I'd rather my baby has asthma than spina bifida any day.

That's very irresponsible writing by the guardian - the headline should say in late pregnancy at the very least. I lost my first baby to anencephaly at 21 weeks - believe me, you'd much rather take supplements than go through that.

I didn't take the reliably with ds1, and didn't take them at all with ds2 (mh issues)

Both children asthmatic.

I have asthma. My mother didn't take folic acid (or anything at all back then). It was passed on through my father's side. More likely to be hereditary than anything. On another matter, is there some kind of "scare pg women with contradictary advice" movement going on in the media at the moment that we should be aware of?