By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Writer New studies have confirmed that in addition to preventing certain birth defects such as spina bifida, folic acid, a B vitamin necessary for cell growth, has now been found to prevent premature birth and heart defects. According to a report by the Associated Press, two major studies in the past month suggest the vitamin may be even more protective than originally thought. The first study was conducted by Texas researchers who analyzed 35,000 pregnancies and found that women who took folic acid supplements for at least a year before becoming pregnant cut in half their risk of having a premature baby. Their risk of having a very early preemie – the babies least likely to survive - dropped even more. A second study done by Canadian researchers analyzed 1.3 million births in Quebec since 1990 to look for heart defects, the most common type of birth defect. They found the rate of serious heart defects had dropped 6 percent a year since Canada began its own food fortification of folic acid in December 1998. Folic acid is an artificial version of folate, a B vitamin found in leafy green vegetables, citrus fruit and dried beans. People of all ages need folate for healthy cell growth but the body doesn’t store enough of it. Pregnant women need extra. Previous studies have found that enough folate in pregnancy's earliest days can prevent devastating birth defects of the spine and brain called neural tube defects, including spina bifida. Those defects have dropped by about a third since the U.S. mandated fortifying certain breads, cereals and pastas with folic acid in January 1998.   Just last month, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended that women of childbearing age take a daily vitamin containing anywhere from 400 to 800 micrograms of folic acid daily. "We've seen in the U.S. and Canada dramatic changes in neural tube defects just with fortification. The question now is would a little more fortification, or even twice as much fortification, impact that bottom line, as well as those other potential benefits," said Dr. Alan Fleischman, medical director of the March of Dimes. His organization is calling together pregnancy and folate specialists this summer to debate this. However, studies have found that too much folic acid later in life can pose a cancer risk. While older Americans are encouraged to get their folate from leafy greens and citrus, some researchers say they should think twice before adding to this with a supplement that contains folic acid. © All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly/Women of Grace. http://www.womenofgrace.com