Vitamins may lower brain tumor risk in offspring
 

David Douglas, "Vitamins may lower brain tumor risk in offspring",
Reuters, October 13, 2006,
Link:
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/arti...th-C4-Health-9

Women who take vitamin supplements during pregnancy appear to have
infants with a reduced risk of brain tumors, according to researchers.

In addition, "taking vitamin supplements very early in pregnancy,
before most women know they are pregnant, prevents spina bifida and
other neural tube defects," lead investigator Dr. Greta R. Bunin told
Reuters Health.

The researchers studied mothers of 315 children who had brain tumors
add were younger than 6 years old at diagnosis. These women (cases)
were compared with a group of 315 similar mothers (controls) without
children with brain tumors.

Case mothers were about half as likely as control mothers to be in the
group with highest level of iron or of folate from food and supplements
combined. They also were less likely to report use of multivitamins,
the researchers report in the current issue of Cancer, Epidemiology,
Biomarkers and Prevention.

Dr. Bunin noted that "public health agencies advise all women who are
capable of becoming pregnant to take a vitamin supplement containing
folic acid even if they are not planning on becoming pregnant."

"The findings of our study and other studies," she concluded, "suggest
that taking vitamin supplements very early in pregnancy may have other
beneficial effects as well."

Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, September 2006.