Folate Usage

Folate is a B-vitamin and, like all vitamins, cannot be synthesized by the body alone but must come from diet or supplements.² Folate attained through diet (like leafy green vegetables, legumes,...

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Folate has been recommended as a preventive treatment for gout for at least 20 years. Some clinicians report that it can be highly effective.

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Folate, a B vitamin, deficiency is thought to increase the ease with which cervical cancer can develop. It participates in the crucial biological process known as methylation and plays an important...

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Folate plays a number of very important functions in the body, including cell division. Its exact role in the reduction of blood pressure is not yet clear. It may help reduce high blood pressure by a...

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Folate may be useful for enhancing the effects of lithium, a common bipolar disorder treatment.

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The use of folate supplements by pregnant women dramatically decreases the risk that their children will be born with a serious birth defect called neural tube defect. ¹ This congenital problem consists of problems with the brain or spinal cord.

Folate supplements may also help prevent other types of birth defects, such as defects of the heart, palate, and urinary tract; conversely, drugs that impair folate action may increase risk of birth defects. (See Requirements/Sources for a list of the drugs involved.) An observational study suggests that folate supplements may reduce this risk in pregnant women taking such drugs. ² Folate also lowers blood levels of homocysteine, which in turn has been hypothesized to reduce the risk of heart disease and other conditions. Studies conflict on the optimum dose of folate for this purpose; 100 to 400 mcg may produce some homocysteine-lowering effects, while 800 mcg daily may lead to maximum effects. ³ Note however, that there is as yet no meaningful evidence that reducing homocysteine is beneficial, and considerable evidence that it is not. Overall, studies of folate supplementation for reducing cardiovascular risk have failed to show benefit. ⁴ On a more positive note, a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 728 Danish seniors with high homocysteine and relatively low folate intake found that use of folate supplements slowed the progression of age-related hearing loss. ⁵ See the full Homocysteine article for additional information. Folate supplementation might also improve mental function in seniors with high homocysteine levels. ⁶ Based on very preliminary evidence, folate has been suggested as a treatment for depression . ⁷ One double-blind, placebo-controlled trial found that folate supplements at a dose of 500 mcg daily may help antidepressants work more effectively in women, but perhaps not in men. ⁸ Observational studies hint that a deficiency in folate might predispose people to develop cancer of the cervix, ⁹ colon, ¹⁰ lung, ¹¹ breast, ¹² pancreas, ¹³ and mouth, ¹⁴ and that folate supplements may help prevent colon cancer, especially when taken for many years or by people with ulcerative colitis . ¹⁵ However, observational studies are notoriously unreliable; large double-blind, placebo-controlled studies are needed to prove a treatment effective. One such study performed on folate for cancer prevention among 1,000 people over a 5-year period found folate ineffective for preventing early colon cancer. ¹⁶ However, a much smaller study involving 94 individuals with colon polyps (a precancerous condition) found that folate may reduce the risk of recurrent polyps over a 3-year period. ¹⁷ High-dose folate (10 mg daily) might be helpful for normalizing abnormalities in the appearance of the cervix (as seen under a microscope) in women taking oral contraceptives, but it does not appear to reverse actual cervical dysplasia . ¹⁸ Some evidence suggests that folate supplements might reduce risk of stroke . ¹⁹ Folate deficiency may also increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease , although this has not yet been proven. ²⁰ Folate supplements may reduce drug side effects in individuals taking the drug methotrexate for certain conditions. ²¹ Folate may also reduce side effects of the antiseizure drug carbamazepine . ²² Folate supplements may help medications in the nitroglycerin family remain effective. ²³ Folate supplementation may reduce blood arsenic levels in people who have been exposed to this toxic substance. ²⁴ Very high dosages of folate may be helpful for gout , ²⁵ although some authorities suggest that it was actually a contaminant of folate that caused the benefit seen in some studies. ²⁶ Furthermore, other studies have found no benefit at all. ²⁷ Based on intriguing but not yet definitive evidence, folate in various dosages has been suggested as a treatment for bipolar disorder , osteoarthritis (in combination with vitamin B 12 ), osteoporosis , restless legs syndrome , rheumatoid arthritis , seborrheic dermatitis , and vitiligo (splotchy loss of skin pigmentation). ^{28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36} Other conditions for which it has been suggested include migraine headaches and periodontal disease .

Folate does notappear to be helpful for enhancing mental function in seniors. ³⁷