The study provides further reassurance to the many people who supplement several times a day with vitamin C that they are not contributing to iron overload . A study published in the November 30 New England Journal of Medicine sought to determine if the use of folic acid antagonists during pregnancy increased these defects in the children of the women taking them and if the use of folic acid during pregnancy might prevent some of these defects. The mothers of 8,387 children with defects not due to folic acid deficiency were also interviewed. It was found that those mothers who took the folic acid antagonists during the second or third month after their last menstrual period had a greater risk of having children with birth defects known to be caused by folic acid deficiency, and that this risk was modified if they were also taking multivitamins. The research conclude by affirming the observation that the folic acid component of multivitamins may reduce neural-tube defects as well as the incidence of other malformations.
Creatine is synthesized in the body from the amino acids arginine and glycine.
It is absorbed by and stored in the major skeletal muscles and the heart. Creatine use maintains higher levels of ATP, or adenosine triphosphate, the cell's energy molecule. In research published in November's Annals of Neurology , creatine was shown to also have the ability to reduce the loss of neurons in the brain's cortex that occurs after injury. The researchers reported a similar experiment in which rats were given creatine four weeks prior to receiving head injuries had half the loss of neurons than the placebo group. Creatine evidently works by benefitting the mitochondria, which are the cell's energy producing power plants.