Folic acid

Folic acid is a kind of Vitamin B, which can be found in the regular diet that we have. It is also known as Folate, Vitamin B9 and Folacin and can be found in green vegetables and fruits. It can also be taken as supplements which pregnant women generally do since Folic Acid helps in building and maintaining DNA and also helps in the generation of new cell, most importantly red blood cells. It prevents the occurrence of anemia in pregnant women. It also controls birth defects, besides which it is also helpful in reducing the risks of cancer. It is often seen that people who have do not have the required amount of Folic Acid in their blood have increased chances of being patients of colorectal cancer though it is still not clear as to what amount of Folic acid can actually be beneficial to prevent cancer.

Uses of Folic Acid

• Deficiency of Folic Acid can cause Megaloblastic Anemia in which the size the of red blood cells increase than the normal size and the nucleus size also increases compared to the cytoplasm in the cell though the disorder can be rectified by including Folic acid in the diet.
• As stated earlier Folic Acid is considered as a vitamin, which has the potential to prevent Cancer since it influences, the formation and functioning of the DNA and the DNA related disorders and Cancer is one of the DNA related problems, therefore in the wake of Folic acid deficiency, DNA is effected and that can cause cancer. This is the result of one research on the other hand it has also been observed that high consumption of Folic acid supplements can also be the cause of breast cancer.
• Folic acid as stated earlier also prevents complications during pregnancy and it has been proved that if the level of Folic acid is low during pregnancy it might affect both the baby and the mother. Deficiency might result to anemia and the birth defects can also be caused in the child. Therefore oral intake of Folic Acid is prescribed for the pregnant woman so that neural tube birth can be prevented.
• Folic Acid also works in case of Methotreaxate toxicity, which often occurs when it is used to stop the proliferation of the active form Tetrahydrofolate that worsens cancer. Sometimes methotrexate can start producing side effects like the swelling of the intestinal tract, which might lead to digestive problems or can also result into the patient not eating at all.
• It is said that it is also considered as a preventive measure for Alzheimer’s disease. It has been observed that people who had a regular intake Folic Acid were less prone to memory loss and their mental agility as well as verbal fluency also tend to change for the better after the consumption of Folic Acid starts.
• Folic acid also increases fertility in men as well as woman and also helps in the conception, placentation, implantation and later in the growth of the baby in general.

The potential of Folic Acid has still not been explored and utilized to the fullest extent since it also has some severe side effects yet there are areas of medicine where it is being utilized and researched upon.