Folic acid supps may cut childhood cancers

A new study published in August edition of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics suggests that taking folic acid multivitamins during pregnancy may help prevent common childhood cancers, according to a report from Healthnotes Newswire. An analysis of seven studies found that the children of mothers who used multivitamins containing folic acid during pregnancy had an 18% lower chance of developing brain tumors, 47% less risk for neuroblastoma, and 36% decreased risk for leukemia versus those whose mothers did not take multivitamins during pregnancy. According to the article, which is available at www.supplementinfo.org, the authors estimate that supplmentation with folic acid-containing multivitamins during pregnancy could prevent 900 cases of childhood leukemia per year in the USA.