
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, October 7, 1995                   TAG: 9510090047
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BOSTON                                LENGTH: Short

SMALL VITAMIN A DOSES LINKED TO BIRTH DEFECTS

Surprisingly low doses of vitamin A - as little as the amount contained in two or three multivitamin pills - may increase the risk of birth defects when taken early in pregnancy, a major study found.

The research concludes that anything more than 10,000 international units of vitamin A each day may be dangerous to the fetus.

Ordinary multivitamins typically contain 5,000 units or less. However, some multivitamin brands, especially those sold in health food stores, can have much more, and straight vitamin A capsules may contain as much as 25,000 units.

The research suggests that one of every 57 babies born to women who take more than 10,000 units of vitamin A will have a birth defect as a result. The problems involved malformations of the face, head, heart and nervous system.

``Any woman who may become pregnant should be aware of the potential risks of excess vitamin A intake,'' Dr. Kenneth Rothman, the principal author, said Friday.

The work, conducted at Boston University, will be published Nov. 23 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Because of its public health importance, the editors took the unusual step of allowing the early release of the study.

Dr. Richard Johnson, medical director of the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, cautioned that the news should not prompt women to shun vitamins. Women are routinely urged to take an ordinary multivitamin every day if they are thinking about getting pregnant, and this advice has not changed.

by CNB