| Good nutrition is important at any time, but | | | | research sample size was small, the results |
| is particularly vital for expecting mothers - | | | | supported an earlier study looking into the |
| in fact, a recent study suggests that eating | | | | possible causes of brain tumors in children. |
| well and taking multi-vitamins may be even | | | | |
| more important at this time than was | | | | The research found that women who took |
| previously thought. | | | | supplements close to the time of conception, |
| | | | and who ate foods high in iron and folic |
| As early as the 1950s, doctors began to | | | | acid, were less likely to have children with |
| recognize the significance of folate, or | | | | two possible types of brain tumors - |
| folic acid, for fetuses in the earliest | | | | medulloblastoma and primitive |
| stages of development. Adequate levels of | | | | neuroectodermal. However, vitamins taken |
| folic acid (a B vitamin) can help prevent | | | | later in pregnancy did not seem to offer the |
| neural tube defects like spina bifida; | | | | same benefits. |
| unfortunately, the crucial time period when | | | | |
| it should be taken is often over before a | | | | The study also looked at possible links |
| woman even realizes that's she's pregnant. | | | | between the consumption of cured meats |
| | | | (containing nitrates and nitrosamines) and |
| For that reason, it's recommended that all | | | | brain tumors. These substances have been |
| women of child-bearing age ensure they're | | | | found to induce nervous system tumors in |
| getting enough folic acid. The task was made | | | | animals, but the research did not find a |
| a little easier when folate became a standard | | | | correlation between women who ate cured meats |
| additive in flour-based foods such as bread | | | | and the development of brain tumors in |
| and pasta; but many women who are pregnant or | | | | children. |
| trying to conceive choose to supplement their | | | | |
| diet with a prenatal vitamin high in folic | | | | Women in the United States and Canada were |
| acid and iron. | | | | interviewed for this case-control study - 315 |
| | | | mothers of children who had been diagnosed |
| Researchers have recently uncovered a similar | | | | with medulloblastoma or primitive |
| association between nutrition and the | | | | neuroectodermal tumors before the age of six, |
| development of childhood brain tumors. | | | | as well as 315 mothers of age and area |
| Although the study was not conclusive and the | | | | code-matched control subjects. |