Excessive supplementation with folic acid during prenatal care: literature review

Abstract

Folic acid supplementation to prevent neural tube closure defects is recommended as part of prenatal care. The guidelines recommend administering 400μg daily of FA, and this dose cannot exceed 1000μg daily. However, it is not uncommon to encounter cases in which the intake of FA exceeds the recommended doses, which is a worrying reality since the effects resulting from the chronic use of high doses of this vitamin are not yet fully understood. A broad analysis of the literature pertinent to this theme from the last 10 years, was verified and 09 articles were selected. Some of the harms that may be associated with excess FA in prenatal care include increased risk of developing childhood asthma, as well as upper airway infections and wheezing; exacerbation of B12 deficiency; fetal growth impairment; influence on brain development (autism); allergic reactions (eczema); cancer promotion (breast tumor and colorectal adenoma); increased insulin resistance in children; and risk of gestational diabetes. This study warns about the importance of the adequacy of the SUS in providing FA tablets at the appropriate dose for pregnant women since the tablets offered by SUS are at a dose of 5mg, which is approximately 10 times higher than recommended.

DOI: 10.56238/pacfdnsv1-092