Terpanggil saya untuk buat satu entry mengenai asid folik ini sekali lagi. Kenapa? Sebelum ni saya ada buat post tentang kepentingan asid folik ni di sini. Minggu lepas, saya ada menerima komen dari seorang hamba Allah yang bernama en. Nasir. Maaf, saya tidak tahu kalau-kalau en Nasir ni ada blog atau tidak kerana tidak disertakan sekali. En Nasir ni ada memberi saya link dan artikel tentang research yang dilakukan oleh researcher dari australia tentang keburukan asid folik ini yang boleh mengundang kepada penyakit asthma kepada anak dalam kandungannya.  Terkejut kan?

Bila saya baca artikel yang bertarikh hujung november 2009 dan yang paling latest pada 5 jan 2010, ada menyatakan

Children whose mothers took folic acid in late pregnancy – from the 30th week on – were one-quarter more likely to have asthma at age 3 compared with children whose mothers did not take folic acid at that point in pregnancy.

They were also more likely to have persistent asthma symptoms from the age of 3 through age 5.

Most mothers who took folic acid in late pregnancy did not take it as a stand-alone supplement, but as part of a multivitamin; they typically got 300 micrograms of folic acid per day from supplements.

Namun, research tu menyatakan di awal pregnancy memang asid folik ini diperlukan untuk membantu dalam pembentukan saraf.

Ada banyak juga artikel yang saya jumpa bila saya search linked to asthma tetapi semuanya dari sumber yang sama iaitu daripada penyelidikan yang di lakukan oleh Universiti Adelaide di Australia. Mengikut apa yang saya baca, ia tidakla pulak nyatakan yang folic asid yang linked to asthma tu diambil secara stand-alone atau folic asid ni antara kandungan yang terdapat dalam multivitamin. Sebabnya, kita selalunya makan multivitamin bila dah masuk second trimester. ( Kecuali government ).

Then saya jumpa lagi satu journal by dr. fuhrman yang menyatakan bahawa

Women who take supplemental folic acid increase their breast cancer risk by 20-30%, according to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Researchers collected data on women’s folic acid intake from multivitamins over a 10-year period – they found that the women who took multivitamins containing folic acid were more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than those that did not.

Another new study, has found that folic acid supplementation by pregnant women increases the risk of childhood asthma by 26% ⁵, and yet another study linked folic acid supplementation during pregnancy to increased incidence of respiratory tract infections in infants, especially those resulting in hospitalization.

Dari artikel tu, saya bolehla simpulkan yang research yang dilakukan oleh penyelidik dari Australia itu based on Folic Asid yang ada terkandung dalam multivitamin. Contoh paling senang adalah obimin.

Walaubagaimanapun, ini hanya merupakan research yang baru dilakukan. Plus, Asthma UK’s director of research, Leanne Metcalf pun ada menyatakan masih terlalu awal lagi untuk membuat keputusan mengenai hal ini based on study data tersebut.

“We believe that this is the first published study in humans to demonstrate that increasing consumption of folic acid, and specifically supplemental folate during late pregnancy, significantly increases the risk of physician-diagnosed asthma in the child at 3.5 years, persistent asthma (at 3.5 and 5.5 years), and possibly asthma at 5.5 years,” said the research team, who published their findings in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

However, the researchers cautioned that there was more work to be done before a hard link could be assumed.

“We acknowledge the need for further studies replicating our findings before any specific recommendations against folic acid supplementation in late pregnancy can be made,” said associate professor Michael Davies, who headed the research.

It is not entirely clear why folic acid supplements in late pregnancy would promote asthma in some children. Most mothers who took folic acid in late pregnancy did not take it as a stand-alone supplement, but as part of a multivitamin; they typically got 300 micrograms of folic acid per day from supplements.

So, belum dapat dipastikan lagi kebenaran tentang folic asid ni boleh bawa keburukan hanya based on satu study je. Diorang kene study lebih lagi untuk memberikan banyak lagi bukti dan penemuan.