Prenatal Vitamins

What is Inositol?

Inositol  can be synthesized in several tissues such as the kidney, liver, testis, and the brain. Inositol is needed for proper health of cell membranes, especially the  cells in the brain, intestines, eyes and bone marrow. Inositol is said to promote hair growth and helps in controlling estrogen levels  and may assist in preventing breast lumps and reducing cholesterol levels. If you are inositol deficient you may experience eczema, hair loss, constipation and eye abnormalities. There is also a relationship between inositol and neural tube defects (NTD’s). Diabetic mothers have a 3-4 times higher risk of having NTD’s in their offspring.

Inositol and  Neural Tube Defects

It is suggested that all women of childbearing consume or supplement folic acid to reduce the risk of having a child born with a neural tube defect such as spina bifida and anencephaly. However, Folate prevents only about 70% or these birth defects. New research done at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis confirms the importance the nutrient, inositol. Inositol protects against the development of neural tube defects. Research found neural tube defects in some mouse embryos from female mice genetically modified to have low levels of ITPK1, an enzyme involved in the metabolism of inositol. These findings suggest that inositol depletion is linked to these birth defects.

Neural tube defects usually occur in the first 3-4 weeks of pregnancy, before most women realise they are pregnant. The two most common neural tube defects are spina bifida and anencephaly. Spina bifida affects 1,500-2,000 babies born in the United Satates annually, causing paralysis, spine abnormalities, incontinence and other problems. Anencephaly occurs when the head end of the neural tube fails to close, resulting in the absence of a major portion of the brain, skull and scalp.  Anecephaly is a fatal condition.

A few studies of human mothers with low inositol levels have shown an increased risk of having children with spina bifida. A clinical trial is under way in the United Kingdom in which women who have a history of one or more pregnancies with  neural tube defects and wish to become pregnant again are given folic acid plus inositol or folic acid and a placebo. To reduce the risk of NTDs make sure you start taking a high quality prenatal vitamin with 25 mg of Inositol and at least 600 mcg of Folic acid  before you decide to become pregnant.