A team of Australian researchers have found out a dietary supplement which can avert miscarriages and many other types of birth defects in pregnant women. The discovery was announced on Thursday at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Sydney. It was said that the common supplement Niacin, which is known as Vitamin B3 is potent enough to cure molecular deficiencies that can cause birth defects and miscarriages in women, as per Xinhua news agency. To this day, the cause of 80% of birth defects is still unknown to scientists, but with the new discovery, pregnant women around the world will now be able to avert these abnormalities like cleft palate, kidney, heart and spinal issues.
The lead scientists of the discovery, professor Sally Dunwoodie, told Xinhua that she never thought that she would be able to make such an important discovery and this it can open new avenues to improve the lives of women around the world. The discovery inferred that a primary cause was a deficiency of a vital molecule known as NAD, which is needed for proper development of organs. For the synthesis of NAD, vitamin B3 is needed. This vitamin is found in most meats and green vegetables. Even one of Australia’s famous exports, Vegemite contains vitamin B3.
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Studies have also shown that by the third trimester of pregnancy, 60% of women are deficit in vitamin B3 and they need to complement their diet with additional supplements of the nutrient. The Executive Director of the Victor Chang Institute Robert Graham said that women need to be taking vitamin B3 well before they decide to get pregnant.
"This will change the way pregnant women are cared for around the world," Graham said.
"We believe that this breakthrough will be one of our country's greatest medical discoveries. It's extremely rare to discover the problem and provide a preventative solution at the same time," he added.
(With IANS Inputs)
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