A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Friday, August 11, 2017
Vitamin B3 may prevent miscarriages and birth defects, study suggests
Study finds taking niacin might help prevent miscarriages
By Katie Silver-10 August 2017
Taking Vitamin B3 could prevent miscarriages and birth defects, a study on mice suggests.
Researchers from the Victor Chang Institute in Sydney called it "a
double breakthrough", as they found both a cause and a preventative
solution.
With 7.9 million babies born each year with a birth defect worldwide, the team hopes the benefits are wide-reaching.
But an expert said the findings "cannot be translated into recommendations" for pregnancy.
The researchers analysed the DNA of four families where the mothers had
suffered multiple miscarriages or their babies were born with multiple
birth defects, such as heart, kidney, vertebrae and cleft palate
problems.
They found mutations in two genes that caused the child to be deficient
in a vital molecule known as Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD),
which allows cells to generate energy and organs to develop normally.
Lead researcher Prof Sally Dunwoodie replicated these mutations in mice
but found they could be corrected if the pregnant mother took niacin
(vitamin B3).
"You can boost your levels of NAD and completely prevent the
miscarriages and birth defects. It bypasses the genetic problem," she
said. "It's rare that you find a cause and a prevention in the same
study. And the prevention is so simple, it's a vitamin," she said.
Bypass genetics
Dr Katie Morris, an expert in maternal foetal medicine at the University
of Birmingham, said: "While exciting, this discovery cannot be
translated into recommendations for pregnant women, who at most may be
deficient in vitamin B3.
"The doses used in this research were 10 times the recommended daily doses for supplementation in women."
She said the side-effects of this high dosage are not known, with
pregnancy complications often occurring because of the complex
interaction of a number of factors.
- 10 miscarriages in 10 years: One couple's heartbreak
- 'It's like someone has pressed pause on your life'
- Miscarriage and its effects on a grieving father
Prof Jean Golding, from the University of Bristol, called it a "solid
piece of work" but cautioned against extrapolating too much from the
findings, because they were based on the genetics of four families and
mice.
For now, Prof Dunwoodie recommended pregnant women take a
pregnancy-specific multivitamin, which includes the advised 18
milligrams of niacin.
"But, we're not all the same in how we absorb nutrients," she said,
adding that body mass index and diabetes can influence how a woman
produces NAD.
She added: "We don't know who these women are that don't make sufficient levels, so that will be the next thing to study."