Cohort study: Association between maternal use of folic acid supplements and risk of autism in children

Source: JAMA Area: News It is well known that prenatal folic acid supplements reduce the risk of neural tube defects in children, but less is known about whether they protect against other childhood neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorders (ASDs; autistic disorder, Asperger syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder -not otherwise specified [PDD-NOS]).   To investigate, researchers followed a sample of 85,176 Norwegian children, derived from the population-based, prospective Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). The children were born in 2002-2008; by the end of follow-up on March 2012, the age range was 3.3 through 10.2 years (mean, 6.4 years).   The primary analysis examined the use of folic acid from 4 weeks before to 8 weeks after the start of pregnancy, defined as the first day of the last menstrual period before conception. Analyses were adjusted for maternal education level, year of birth, and parity.   The following results were ...
Source: NeLM - News - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news