Spina Bifida Genetics Research Project
Posted by Kristal Louie on Fri, Nov 06, 2009 @ 12:36 AM
Hello !
We are among the first researchers to study the unique theory that tiny changes to our folic acid genes might impact us in a significant way by increasing the risk of having a child with Spina Bifida. Our hope is that with the help of all the participants we will find a way to prevent Spina Bifida.
Our group includes researchers from Children's Hospital of Oakland, the University of California Berkley, Stanford University, and the University of California San Francisco. The preliminary research has shown that some of us may not metabolize folic acid as efficiently as others. That means that the standard recommendation of 0.4 milligrams may not be enough. Some of us may need to take at least 4 milligrams (a ten-fold increase from the RDA) to compensate. The unfortunate thing is that currently there are no pre-conception tests to determine if you or I might be one of these women. With the help of mothers and children with Spina Bifida we hope to find a way to provide women with this information before they become pregnant, when they can do something about it.
We want to thank all the mothers and children who have already participated. We would love it if we could get even more mothers and their children to participate as the more data we have, the stronger our results will be. So if you have already participated a BIG THANK YOU !!! If you have not, please consider participating. Help us by telling your friends about the study or send them a link to the website. We need your help!
Kristal
P.S. Please feel free to post any comments you have !
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