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. 1966 Oct 15;95(16):797–806.

The Incidence and Prevention of Folate Deficiency in a Pregnant Clinic Population

Louis Lowenstein, George Cantlie, Oscar Ramos, Lauder Brunton
PMCID: PMC1935759  PMID: 5928519

Abstract

Non-anemic women attending a public antenatal clinic were given, daily, a multivitamin tablet containing 78 mg. of elemental iron. The follow-up studies included an analysis of their diets. A total of 311 patients were included, of which one group received a supplement of 0.5 mg. folic acid and 0.005 mg. vitamin B12. The incidence of megaloblastic bone marrow change in the unsupplemented group was 26% and of low blood folates approximately 50%. The incidence of megaloblastic changes was sharply reduced in the supplemented group and the blood folates were elevated to supranormal levels, indicating that the dose of folic acid used may have been above the minimal requirement. Formiminoglutamic acid (FIGLU) excretion could not be correlated with other parameters of folate deficiency. Neutrophil lobe counts did not relate to megaloblastic changes or low folate levels unless there was more than 5% hypersegmentation. The dietary intake was suboptimal in total calories, iron and food folate.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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