(Posted 4-26-00)
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News Service Contact: Laurie Gengenbach, 336-334-5371
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UNCG NURSING PROFESSOR BEGINS
FOLIC ACID EDUCATION PROGRAM
GREENSBORO — Some of the most severe birth defects can be prevented with a very simple remedy, and Dr. Heidi Krowchuk of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro wants everyone to know what it is.
With a $41,000 grant from the Greater Triad Chapter of the March of Dimes, she plans to begin an education campaign, “Point 4 the Future,” to inform college women about the importance of taking folic acid supplements, even if they aren’t thinking about having a family in the near future.
“It’s pretty much a magic bullet,” Krochuk said. “Studies have shown consuming .4 milligrams (400 micrograms) of folic acid per day will prevent at least 50-75 percent of neural tube defects. We think we can prevent them from occurring if we can get women to take folic acid preconceptionally.” The Centers for Disease Control place the effectiveness even higher, at 85 percent, she added.
The program for college women is just one part of a multi-pronged education effort by the March of Dimes, which also includes information placed in day care centers, YWCAs, and educating health care providers, said Linda Klocker, director of program services for the Greater Triad Chapter of the March of Dimes.
Neural tube defects develop very early in pregnancy, often before women suspect they are pregnant, and 60 percent of all pregnancies are unplanned. That’s why folic acid should become part of the daily routine for every woman of child-bearing age, Krowchuk said.
“You need to take it before you even think about getting pregnant. The
idea is to get women in the habit when they’re young, so that when they
do make the decision to become pregnant, they’ll have their child protected,”
she said.
In addition to preventing birth defects, studies indicate folic acid
taken over the long term offers other benefits to women and men alike,
including helping to prevent colon cancer and strokes, she added.
Neural tube defects include Spina Bifida, in which the spinal cord is deformed, myelomeningocoele, in which the spinal cord is exposed or anaencephaly in which the brain fails to develop completely or is entirely absent.. Krochuk and the area chapter of the March of Dimes are organizing the campaign because North Carolina and the rest of the Southeast lead the nation in such defects.
About 300 cases were reported in North Carolina from 1995 through 1997, but there may have been many more, because the state does not record neural tube defects for terminated pregnancies, said Bob Meyer, an epidemiologist with the State Center for Heath Statistics. What statisticians do know is that education works, he added.
South Carolina halved its neural tube defects since launching a public
information campaign in the early 1990s, Meyer said. “It shows it’s not
just hypothetical, it actually can work. Their demographics are not that
much different from ours,” he said.
Twenty-three college campuses in these 11 counties will be targeted
in the campaign: Forsyth, Guilford, Rockingham, Yadkin, Stokes, Surry,
Alamance, Caswell, Davie, Randolph and Davidson.
Folate and folic acid are different terms for the same B-vitamin. Folate is a natural substance found in fruits and vegetables including orange juice, green leafy vegetables and pinto beans. Folic acid is the synthetic B-vitamin form used in vitamin supplements. Synthetic folic acid is also better absorbed than folate, Krowchuk said. A .4-milligram tablet is about half the size of an aspirin tablet.
An associate professor of nursing, Krowchuk hopes to reach at least 23,000 college women in the next year with her campaign Print and electronic media will be used, as well as 20-minute presentations in dormitories, and information booths at campus events. Samples of folic acid supplements will be distributed to women to get them started in the habit.
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