麵粉添加維生素B 降低新生兒神經缺陷!

Foods fortified with folic acid can prevent neural tube defects   Published on June 21, 2012 Wheat flour milled in Nigeria will soon be fortified with folic acid, a B vitamin known for preventing serious or fatal birth defects of the spine and brain. Women who may become pregnant are encouraged to daily choose foods fortified with this essential vitamin because it can prevent the majority of these devastating birth defects known as neural tube defects.Foods already fortified with folic acid in Nigeria include Blue Brand margarine made by Unilever, Dangote pasta, Bournvita, Ovaltine, and some brands of powdered milk. Flour has been fortified with iron and vitamin A in Nigeria for years. Adding folic acid means that all the bread and pasta made with fortified flour will also contain this vitamin. More than 60 countries fortify wheat flour with folic acid, and they report 30 to 70 percent declines in neural tube defects as a result. Spina bifida is the most common birth defect that can be prevented with folic acid. It causes the baby's spine to not form correctly, and it cannot be cured. Children with spina bifida almost always have some form of paralysis and problems controlling their bowel and bladder functions. Children with spina bifida undergo a lifetime of surgeries and face many health issues. Two other types of neural tube defects affect the brain. With anencephaly, the brain does not form properly. These pregnancies are often miscarried, but if the infants are delivered, the babies die shortly after birth. Encephalocele is an opening of the skull which allows parts of the brain and brain membrane to protrude through the opening. The severity of encephalocele depends on its location. It is difficult to determine exactly how many pregnancies in Nigeria are affected by neural tube defects because no single group tracks birth defects in the country. Also, pregnancies that are miscarried or terminated due to a neural tube defect are often not reported. Two studies at Lagos State University Hospital in Ikeja, Lagos, found that more than half the children treated for defects of the central nervous system had neural tube defects. In 2005, 33 of 61 children treated had neural tube defects. A two-year study in 2008 and 2009 showed 54 children with neural tube defects among the 94 children treated.