Vitamin B and folate supplements could be the key to fighting the debilitating symptoms of migraines, according to new research.

Vitamin B and folic acid 'help fight migraines'
article in the Telegraph

Extracts:

"They "significantly" reduced the frequency and severity of attacks in a clinical trial involving 50 migraine sufferers.

Professor Lyn Griffiths, director of the Genomics Research Centre (GRC) at Griffith University in Australia, said the results of the six-month study were very positive.

The findings showed "a drastic improvement in headache frequency, pain severity and associated disability for those treated," she said."

"The success of the trial proved that "safe, inexpensive" supplements - rather than expensive medication that can have adverse side effects - could treat migraine patients, [Professor Griffiths] said."

Avoiding salt and salty food lessens the incidence and severity of migraines and other headaches.

Hairspray exposure may increase birth defect risk of baby boys

Scientists have found preliminary evidence that exposure to hairspray during the first three months of pregnancy increases the risk of a common genetic deformity in baby boys. The team found that the risk of hypospadias - a defect in which the urinary opening forms on the underside of the penis - increased from 4 in 1,000 boys to 9.6 in 1,000 when the mother was exposed to hairspray during her work. The team also found that folic acid, which mothers are advised to take during early pregnancy to avoid neural tube defects, seems to prevent hypospadias. Taking the supplement led to a 36% decrease in risk.
Read article in The Guardian (UK)

Caution is advised with regard to folic acid supplementation

Can folic acid cause cancer?
Article in the Telegraph:

Extract:

"Folic acid is the synthetic form of a naturally occurring B vitamin, folate. Women who have good levels of folate in their diet, or take folic acid supplements, are far less likely to have babies affected by the birth defect spina bifida. America and Canada started adding folic acid to flour in 1998 and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in the UK has called for a similar fortification here. But recent research has linked high folic acid consumption with an increased risk of bowel cancer; the modest-sounding annual increase of one per cent could, in fact, amount to an extra 3,000 cases per year in the UK. Other evidence points to an increased risk of breast or prostate cancers."

""People with a high intake end up with unmetabolised folic acid floating in their bloodstream," says Dr Siân Astley of the Institute for Food Research in Norwich. "We don't really know what its consequences might be."

The recommended daily intake for folate is 200 micrograms (mcg), and most multivitamins contain this amount of folic acid. But it is also added to breakfast cereals, snack bars and some margarines. Official government advice puts the safe upper limit for folic acid at 1,000mcg per day, but the leading vitamin B expert, Prof David Smith of Oxford University, thinks there is now sufficient evidence to cut that down to 500mcg in general and 400mcg for cancer survivors.

"If you eat a lot of fortified cereals, you may want to rethink your daily multivitamin. Or you could stick with the vitamin pill and switch to wholegrains without added synthetic vitamins, such as porridge or muesli," says Dr Astley. "Fortification is an overly broad approach that increases everyone's folic acid intake, instead of targeting those who need it."

Cutting down on salt/sodium intake lowers the risk of most cancers.

You may like to consider eating more green vegetables...

Lack of folic acid dementia link

Extract from the article on the BBC website:

"Dementia is three times more common in people whose blood is low in folates, a form of vitamin B particularly found in green vegetables, a study suggests.

The Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry study followed 518 South Korean pensioners for two years.

There is growing evidence linking levels of folates - or folic acid - and Alzheimer's disease, though deficiency could be a symptom of dementia."

Taking folic acid supplements reduces the risk of stroke but could worsen heart disease in those who are vulnerable.

Folic acid supplements 'cut stroke risk' - Guardian

Extract:

"Taking folic acid supplements reduces the risk of stroke by 18%, according to a large study published in today's Lancet.

The findings also suggest that mandatory fortification of flour, currently being considered by health officials in England, could reduce death rates from strokes.

Hopes of such a dramatic impact in reducing the 110,000 strokes diagnosed every year in the UK are tempered by warnings that supplementation could also worsen heart disease in those who are vulnerable."

The completely SAFE way to reduce your risk of stroke AND your risk of developing heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and many other degenerative conditions is to reduce your intake of salt and salty food. - The less salt/sodium you eat, the better for your health.

And if you feel you need to lose weight, then please give up dieting! - All you need to do to lose some excess weight is to eat less salt and to continue with low salt intake for the rest of your life.

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Should folic acid be added to bread to help prevent neural tube defects, such as spina bifida, affecting foetuses and causing disabilities in babies?

Support for folic acid in bread

Extracts:

"The campaign to add folic acid to bread in an attempt to stop hundreds of babies from being born with disabilities has been bolstered by research suggesting that the move was probably safe."

"Each year, up to 600 babies are born with neural tube defects, such as spina bifida, while several hundred pregnancies are aborted because foetuses are affected. Many scientists support the mandatory adding of folic acid, which contains the vitamin folate, because they say there is overwhelming evidence that it helps prevent neural tube defects. There is to be a three-month consultation.

Critics have described the plans as "mass medication"."