High folic acid supplements linked to increased Covid infections, says study

PTI

London, September 2

People in the UK with folic acid prescriptions were 1.5 times more likely to get Covid-19 and 2.6 times more likely to die from the viral disease compared to the control group, according to a study.

About synthetic Vitamin B9

• Folic acid is a synthetic form of Vit B9, also called folate
• Low levels of B9 are associated with an increased risk of heart disease, stroke and birth defects
• Folic acid is prescribed for several conditions, including sickle cell disease, high-risk pregnancies, and people receiving anti-seizure medications

The research, published in the journal BMJ Open, also found that having a prescription for the anti-folate drug methotrexate mitigated the negative impact of folic acid on Covid-19, when the two were given together.

The researchers from the University of California (UC) Davis and the University of Alabama, US, studied a large cohort of patients enrolled in the UK BioBank, a major biomedical database containing health information from half a million people. “We found that the risk of becoming infected and dying from Covid was significantly greater in the group treated with folic acid,” said Green, co-senior author of the study.