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Folate deficiency - Treatment

Alternative Names

Deficiency - folic acid, Folic acid deficiency

Complications:

Anemia (low red blood cell count) and, in severe cases, low levels of white blood cells and platelets are complications. In folate-deficiency anemia, the red blood cells are abnormally large.

Folic acid is also needed for the development of a healthy fetus. It plays an important part in the development of the fetus' spinal cord and brain. Folic acid deficiency can cause severe birth defects of the brain and spinal cord, known as neural tube defects.

  • Reviewed last on: 6/14/2011
  • A.D.A.M. Editorial Team: David Zieve, MD, MHA, and David R. Eltz. Previously reviewed by David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; and Yi-Bin Chen, MD, Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Massachusetts General Hospital (8/9/2009).

References

Antony AC. Megaloblastic anemias. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:chap 170.

Hamrick I, Counts SH. Vitamin and mineral supplements. Wellness and Prevention. 2008;35:729-747.

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