OBJECTIVE To provide information regarding the use of folic acid in combination with a multivitamin supplement for the prevention of neural tube defects and other congenital anomalies, so that physicians, midwives, nurses, and other health care workers can assist in the education of women in the pre-conception phase of their health care. OPTION: Supplementation with folic acid and vitamins is p...

Such "therapy" effectively consists of recommending a multivitamin-mineral supplement with somewhat higher-than-daily-value amounts of several of the B vitamins (pyridoxine hydrochloride [B6], cyanocobalamin [B12], and folic acid). Therapy with, for example, 25 mg of B6, 100 μg of B12, and 400 μg of folic acid is simply obtained in a high "potency" (no-iron) multivitamin that can be bought in t...

BACKGROUND Anemia is a frequent complication among HIV-infected persons and is associated with faster disease progression and mortality. OBJECTIVE We examined the effect of multivitamin supplementation on hemoglobin concentrations and the risk of anemia among HIV-infected pregnant women and their children. DESIGN HIV-1-infected pregnant women (n = 1078) from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, were en...

BACKGROUND Children with tuberculosis often have underlying nutritional deficiencies. Multivitamin supplementation has been proposed as a means to enhance the health of these children; however, the efficacy of such an intervention has not been examined adequately. METHODS 255 children, aged six weeks to five years, with tuberculosis were randomized to receive either a daily multivitamin suppl...

UNLABELLED Few studies have examined the impact of educational interventions on participants' long-term knowledge and use of folic acid for prevention of neural tube defects (NTD). OBJECTIVE The objective of this pilot study was to evaluate changes in knowledge and behaviors in a sample of college women one year after such a program. METHODS Female students of a residential college campus v...

Approximately 20-30% of Americans consume multivitamin supplements daily, indicating high public interest in the prevention of cancer and other chronic diseases through a nutrition-based approach. Although several bioactive food components, including vitamins and minerals, have been investigated for their ability to affect cancer risk, few large, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials o...