Folate, Licorice and Pregnancy 38464

Folate, Licorice and Pregnancy

BOSTON--It appears that folic acid plays a role in helpingreduce the risk of elevated blood pressure during pregnancy, according to a newstudy in the American Journal of Epidemiology (156:806-12, 2002) (http://aje.oupjournals.org).Researchers from Boston University studied women who had given birth tonon-malformed infants and who had participated in the Slone Epidemiology CenterBirth Defects Study (1993-2000).

Researchers, led by Sonia Hernandez-Diaz, M.D., Ph.D., interviewed womenwithin six months after delivery about the use of multivitamins (containingfolic acid) and the occurrence of hypertension with or without preeclampsia (acondition that only occurs during pregnancy in which hypertension, swelling andprotein in the urine are symptoms). Of the 2,100 women surveyed, 204 (9.7percent) reported gestational hypertension. When researchers looked at the riskof developing gestational hypertension during the month after folic acidsupplementation, compared to not having used folic acid that same month, it wasfound that only .6 percent taking the supplement experienced hypertension.

In an interview with the media outlet Reuters, Hernandez-Diaz said that ifthe results from this study were validated by further research, it would makesense for an expectant mother to take folic acid during her entire pregnancy andnot just before and during her first trimester.

In the same issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology, researchersfrom Finland and England reported that pregnant women consuming large amounts oflicorice, or glycyrrhizin, have a shorter gestation period (less than 37 weeks).In a sample of 95 Finnish women who delivered pre-term children, heavyconsumption of licorice (greater than 500 mg/week) indicated a two-foldincreased risk of pre-term delivery versus the low consumption group (less than250 mg/week). The researchers, led by Timo E. Strandberg, M.D., Ph.D., from theUniversity of Helsinki, Finland, concluded that heavy glycyrrhizin exposure maybe a factor in pre-term deliveries.