Latest NIEHS findings show that folic acid may prevent cleft lip and palate

A new study finds that women who take folic acid supplements early in their pregnancy can substantially reduce their baby's chances of being born with a facial cleft. Researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the USA's National Institutes of Health, found that 0.4mg a day of folic acid reduced by one third the baby's risk of isolated cleft lip (with or without cleft palate). The recommended daily adult folate allowance is 400mcg or 0.4 -mg.

"These findings provide further evidence of the benefits of folic acid for women," said Allen Wilcox, lead NIEHS author on the new study published on-line in the British Medical Journal. "We already know that folic acid reduces the risk of neural tube defects, including spina bifida. Our research suggests that folic acid also helps prevent facial clefts, another common birth defect." In the USA, about one in every 750 babies is born with cleft lip and/ or palate, it was noted.

"Folic acid deficiency causes facial clefts in laboratory animals, so we had a good reason to focus on folic acid in our clefts study," said Dr Wilcox, adding: "it was one of our main hypotheses." The researchers examined the association between facial clefts and mothers' intake of folic acid supplements, multivitamins, and folates in diet.