Folic acid was the subject of the latest medical scare story at the end of 2004, where pregnant women, taking the vitamin to reduce the risk of neural tube defects in their unborn child, were suddenly confronted with an increased risk of breast cancer.
Coincidence then, that just this week we hear that folic acid might actually reduce women’s blood pressure? It’s almost as if given the panic surrounding the breast cancer scare that a positive result was needed to counteract it. Trouble is the media generally doesn’t take into account the tiny percentage changes in risk and benefits associated with these studies.
So, maybe there is a fractional percentage increase in risk of breast cancer, and a fractional percentage decrease in hypertension. Neither value can shift the more than significant risk of neural tube defects in children whose mothers were deficient in folate when they conceived. The media needs more journalists with a scientific or medical background who can see through the statistical haze, we’d then hopefully avoid some of the unwarranted scare and hype.