Iron and folate prevent leukaemia

It is a known fact that iron supplements help prevent anaemia during pregnancy. Recent research shows that the role of iron during pregnancy may be more than just that - it has been seen to be protective against Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) in children whose mothers took iron and folic acid supplements during pregnancy. ALL is the most common form of cancer in children. It is a progressively harmful disease where the WBC's do not mature fully and thus are unable to carry out their functions properly. These cells multiply and replace the normal cells till finally bone marrow failure occurs. A study conducted by the Cancer Foundation of Western Australia found that consumption of iron and folate supplements by pregnant women reduced the risk of their children having ALL by almost 60%. The researchers studied 83 children with ALL against 166 controls or those who were unaffected. 46% of mothers of children with ALL took either folate or iron supplements during their pregnancy as against 69% of the controls' mothers. Only 26% of the case mothers took both iron and folate supplements, whereas 45% of the control mothers did the same. The researchers noted a significant inverse association between ALL and the supplements taken during pregnancy. More correlation was noted with folate supplements and combinations rather than with iron alone. The results were surprising since the researchers did not purposely set out to investigate the role of supplements as possibly protective against childhood leukaemia. Earlier studies have shown protective effects of folate against colorectal cancer and of iron against childhood brain tumours. A possible cause of the protective property of folate could be that it prevents mutations in the DNA thus avoiding chromosomal abnormalities. Dietary sources of folic acid include vegetables, nuts, soyabean and grain products. Iron rich foods include green vegetables, rice flakes, soyabean etc. Some instant cereal preparations are nowadays fortified with iron and folic acid. The research has added fresh thrust to eating the right foods and supplements during pregnancy.

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