The Health Education Authority's campaign, encouraging the use of periconceptional folic acid in the prevention of neural tube defects, started in February 1996 and is ongoing. Its effectiveness was assessed using a questionnaire, answered by patients not exposed to the campaign and by those that were. The study population was ...

Zinc deficiency in pregnant experimental animals limits fetal growth and, if severe, causes teratogenic anomalies. Although the data from human studies are not consistent, similar outcomes have been observed and were associated with poor maternal zinc status. This paper reviews humans studies of zinc status and pregnancy outcome, describes the ...

Fanconi's anaemia is a severe refractory anaemia, associated with congenital malformations in approximately two-thirds of cases. Although these malformations may involve every organ system, suggestive dysmorphic features include growth retardation, radial ray deformities and urinary malformations. These malformations are not specific for Fanconi's anaemia, but should be recognized during pregnancy, ...

Pregnancy requires additional maternal absorption of iron. Maternal iron status cannot be assessed simply from hemoglobin concentration because pregnancy produces increases in plasma volume and the hemoglobin concentration decreases accordingly. This decrease is greatest in women with large babies or multiple gestations. However, mean corpuscular volume does not change substantially ...

A preliminary study revealed significantly lower serum iron concentrations in lambs that developed abomasal bloat about one week later, than in lambs that did not develop bloat. In a subsequent trial, with 754 naturally reared twin lambs from five flocks, iron dextran injections were found to have a preventive effect ...

BACKGROUND: Iron deficiency anemia is the most prevalent nutrient deficiency during pregnancy, yet there are few data on the effect of prenatal iron supplementation in women in developing countries. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to describe the effect of iron supplementation on hematologic changes during pregnancy, and the effect on those ...

A cross-sectional study was conducted among the pregnant women in three administrative divisions of West Bengal to undertake a rapid assessment about the magnitude of the problem of anaemia in pregnancy and also to study care seeking behaviour for the same. The findings revealed that the occurrence of anaemia in ...

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) during pregnancy is associated with significant morbidity for mothers and infants. Over 50% of pregnant women in developing countries suffer from IDA. It is also prevalent among adolescent girls because the growth spurt and onset of menstruation increase iron requirements. Women who conceive during or shortly ...

When maternal anemia is diagnosed before midpregnancy, it has been associated with an increased risk of preterm delivery. Maternal anemia detected during the later stages of pregnancy, especially the third trimester, often reflects the expected (and necessary) expansion of maternal plasma volume. Third-trimester anemia usually is not associated with increased ...

Factor XIII deficiency is an uncommon, inherited bleeding disorder that usually manifests in infancy or early childhood, involving both boys and girls. We present the case of a woman who had experienced two previous intracranial bleeding events, and was treated before and during her current pregnancy with factor XIII concentrate. ...

The objectives of our study were to 1) determine if peak maternal serum iron level or toxicity stage after intentional overdose is associated with adverse maternal-fetal outcome, and 2) describe the use of deferoxamine antidote therapy in obstetric patients. A computer search of the English language literature from 1966-1998 used ...

BACKGROUND: The aim was to define reference values for hemoglobin, hematocrit and erythrocyte indices, i.e. erythrocyte count, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), in normal pregnancy and after a normal delivery in non-iron-supplemented and iron supplemented women. METHODS: Two hundred and six healthy ...

There are few data about the influence of iron stores and anemia on pregnancy outcome. Results that are available are controversial. This study used the medical records of 202 pregnant women aged 29.5 + 4.8 years to examine the association of low and high ferritin levels and anemia with pregnancy ...

The aim was to evaluate relationships between iron status markers (haemoglobin, erythrocyte indices, serum iron, serum transferrin, serum transferrin saturation, serum ferritin) in normal pregnancy. Iron status markers were measured at 4-week-intervals during pregnancy and postpartum in 120 healthy women; 62 had daily treatment with tablets containing 66 mg ferrous ...

BACKGROUND: Folate depletion may result in anaemia during pregnancy. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this review was to assess the effects of folate supplementation in pregnancy on haematological and biochemical parameters and measures of pregnancy outcome. This review did not address the role of periconceptual folate supplementation to diminish the risk ...

Anemia is one of the most frequent complications related to pregnancy. Normal physiologic changes in pregnancy affect the hemoglobin (Hb), and there is a relative or absolute reduction in Hb concentration. The most common true anemias during pregnancy are iron deficiency anemia (approximately 75%) and folate deficiency megaloblastic anemia, which ...

Background and Aims: To assess the true positive and false positive rates of the iron status markers (serum iron, serum transferrin, transferrin saturation, haemoglobin, haematocrit, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean cell haemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), erythrocyte count) in the diagnosis of depleted iron stores (iron depletion) during ...

Recent studies of biotin status during pregnancy provide evidence that a marginal degree of biotin develops in a substantial proportion of women during normal pregnancy. Several lines of evidence suggest that, although the degree of biotin deficiency is not severe enough to produce the classic cutaneous and behavioral manifestations of ...

Vitamin D deficiency can occur in people whose diet is relatively low in the vitamin and those who are not exposed to much sunlight. The objective of this review was to assess the effects of vitamin D supplementation on pregnancy outcome. We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group trials ...

Anaemia during pregnancy is an important contributor to maternal mortality and morbidity in Kenya. A prospective study was conducted in Kisumu District, a region characterized by high incidences of maternal and infant mortality, to determine the levels and prevalence of maternal complications. Four health facilities were purposely selected to act ...

BACKGROUND: Anaemia in pregnancy is a major health problem in many developing countries where nutritional deficiency, malaria and other parasitic infections contribute to increased maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this review was to assess the effects of routine iron and folate supplementation on haematological and ...

BACKGROUND: Anaemia in pregnancy is a major health problem in many developing countries where nutritional deficiency, malaria and other parasitic infections contribute to increased maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this review was to assess the effects of iron supplementation on haematological and biochemical parameters, and ...

British recommendations (DRVs and RNIs) include hardly any increments for pregnancy. British recommendations for protein are likely to cause unsatisfactory birthweight. What is the normal nutrient intake in pregnancy of healthy women? What evidence is there of special requirements for folate, iron, magnesium or iodine? New recommendations for nutrient intakes ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a supplement of folic acid given preconceptionally or early in pregnancy had any influence on, birth weight, incidence of preterm labour, low birth weight and small for gestational age. Furthermore, the aim was to elucidate, whether the outcome differed following the administration of two different dosages ...

This study had two primary objectives: 1) to derive a method to determine hemoglobin cutoffs that could be used to better estimate the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy at high altitudes and 2) to estimate the prevalence of anemia in a sample of pregnant women residing in two ...

OBJECTIVE: In 1982, Tolarova(4) found a reduction in the recurrence rate of isolated cleft lip (CL) with or without cleft palate (CP; CL +/- CP) after periconceptional supplementation with a multivitamin including a very high dose (10 mg) of folic acid. The Hungarian randomized, double-blind, controlled trial of periconceptional supplementation ...

OBJECTIVE: Characterisation of patients presenting with megaloblastic anaemia according to clinical, sociological, haematological and aetiological aspects of their disease, and use of these findings to increase awareness among clinicians and to make recommendations regarding changes in national health policy. METHODS: This study included 104 patients presenting with megaloblastic anaemia to ...

OBJECTIVE: The effect of folic acid supplement on the prevalence of congenital anomalies was studied in a Danish population. MATERIAL AND METHODS: From 1983 to 1986 all Danish women resident in the county of Funen were offered free folic acid when pregnant or planning a pregnancy. Folic acid dose was ...

AIMS: To investigate the impact of maternal anticonvulsant use on the ability of cord blood to coagulate. METHODS: Cord blood prothrombin times were measured, over 15 years in a consecutive series of 137 term babies born to women taking phenobarbitone, phenytoin, and/or carbamazepine while pregnant. The response to parenteral vitamin ...

Periconceptional folic acid supplementation reduces the occurrence of several human congenital malformations, including craniofacial, heart and neural tube defects. Although the underlying mechanism is unknown, there may be a maternal-to-fetal folate-transport defect or an inherent fetal biochemical disorder that is neutralized by supplementation. Previous experiments have identified a folate-binding protein ...

BACKGROUND: Iron supplementation in pregnancy is a controversial issue. The aim of this review was to summarize the results of relevant papers on this subject. METHODS: Placebo-controlled studies on iron treatment in pregnancy were identified from the Cochrane database. RESULTS: Among fertile women, 20% have iron reserves of >500 mg, ...

We combined the use of desferrioxamine as an iron chelator, microdialysis sampling, and iron analysis by atomic absorption spectroscopy to measure extracellular levels of low molecular weight (LMW) iron in vivo in the spinal cord. Low molecular weight iron is free iron plus iron bound to small molecules. We show ...

gamma-Cystathionase deficiency (cystathioninemia-cystathioninuria) is a disorder of the transsulfuration pathway characterized by the accumulation of cystathionine in blood and urine. There are probably no clinical consequences. However, maternal gamma-cystathionase deficiency has not been reported. We studied 2 pregnancies and the offspring of these pregnancies in a woman with the pyridoxine-nonresponsive ...

To estimate the effect of maternal zinc deficiency on pregnancy outcomes, we conducted a zinc supplementation trial in an urban shantytown in Lima, Peru, a population with habitual low zinc intakes. Beginning at 10-24 wk gestation, 1295 mothers were randomly assigned to receive prenatal supplements containing 60 mg iron and ...

Nutritional deficiency continues to be an important cause of rickets in the underdeveloped and developing parts of the world. In the western hemisphere, predominantly non-nutritional forms of rickets and osteomalacia are now seen. In this report we discuss a family with X-linked hypophosphataemic rickets from the Kashmir region of the ...

Zinc, copper, and iron levels in maternal and fetal pig tissues and fluids were measured starting on d 30 of gestation and continuing to term (d 114) at 10-d intervals. Fetal hematocrit increased from a low of 19% on d 30 to 32% by d 50, after which it remained ...

The objective of this study was to compare the iron status of 356 mother-baby pairs who had intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) with 356 mother-baby pairs who had appropriate weight for gestational age (AGA). Mothers were selected in 1991/92 from 4 hospitals in Campinas city, Brazil, where 95% of deliveries take ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the proportion of women who take daily folic acid supplements in the month before conception and to identify factors associated with supplement use. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey by self-administered questionnaire. SETTING: Tertiary care teaching hospital in Hamilton, Ont. PARTICIPANTS: Four hundred eighty-four (43%) of 1132 women who delivered ...

PURPOSE: To determine whether anticonvulsant exposure during human pregnancy caused an increase of the abnormal form of prothrombin, known as PIVKA-II (prothrombin induced by vitamin K absence for factor II), and a decrease in total prothrombin, in the blood of the newborn. METHODS: Cord blood was collected from the placenta ...

Pyruvate carboxylase (PC) is a key enzyme in the gluconeogenesis and anaplerotic metabolic pathways. PC deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive disorder with three clinical presentations: an infantile form, a severe neonatal form, and a benign form. We report brother and sister sibs with the severe form of PC deficiency. ...

Reduced meat intake is often associated with iron deficiency anaemia. Reduced meat intake that arose from the frugality associated with a prolonged period of national economic reorientation policy, known as the "structural adjustment programme" (SAP), may have placed iron-stress on pregnancy in particular. Iron status of pre-SAP and SAP pregnancies ...

This review discusses the predictive value of animal models in assessment of possible risk from excess vitamin A consumption during pregnancy and the human evidence concerning risk of congenital malformations from excess vitamin A in the diet, consumed either as a constituent of normal foods or in the form of ...

Voice quality in patients with vocal fold paralysis can be affected by several factors, such as the position of the paralyzed vocal fold, its degree of atrophy, the configuration of its free edge, and the level differences between both vocal folds. Depending on the related vocal deficiency the patient will ...

Iron deficiency during pregnancy affects a significant portion of women in countries with low economic wealth and is not uncommon in pregnant women in industrialized countries. Inadequate intake of iron related to diets poor in bioavailable iron is often responsible for iron deficiency before pregnancy, and metabolic adjustments (such as ...

OBJECTIVE: To describe perceived levels of fatigue and energy before, during, and after pregnancy in a group of healthy women experiencing uncomplicated pregnancies; and to examine relationships between their perception of fatigue and energy, parity, and physiologic indicators of sleep disturbances, thyroid function, and iron deficiency. DESIGN: Prospective, longitudinal. SETTING: ...

Aplastic anaemia in pregnancy is an extremely rare condition with high maternal morbidity and mortality rates. Intensive haematological support remains the mainstay of therapy and a successful obstetric outcome can be best accomplished with the close clinical collaboration of the haematologist and the obstetrician as occurred with our patient reported ...

Iron deficiency is the single most common nutritional disorder world-wide and the main cause of anaemia in infancy, childhood and pregnancy. It is prevalent in most of the developing world and it is probably the only nutritional deficiency of consideration in industrialised countries. In the developing world the prevalence of ...

Iron plays an essential role in a spectrum of metabolic processes. Cellular iron uptake is facilitated by transferrin receptor (TfR)-mediated endocytosis. In recent years more insight has been obtained in TfR physiology and the regulation of cellular iron homeostasis. The synthesis of TfR and the iron storage protein ferritin is ...

This study was undertaken to evaluate the response to parenteral administration of iron in 62 pregnant patients with asiderotic anemia and mean initial hemoglobin (Hb) concentrations (Hb1) of 9.91+/-(SD) 1.13 g/dl. Iron (742+/-366 mg) was administered intravenously, and the response to treatment was classified according to the rise in Hb ...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the main causes of anemia in pregnancy in Dar-es-Salaam and identify appropriate investigations at all levels of care. MATERIALS: All pregnant women booking for antenatal care at 2 clinics (n = 2,235) were screened for anemia. Investigations for etiology of anemia were done in all anemic women ...