2 to 19 Years
N/A
Folic acid supplementation (1mg/d) is the standard recommendation for Canadian children with
Sickle cell disease (SCD), even though it can provide up to six times the recommended intake
amount for healthy children. There is growing concern that too much folic acid can be
detrimental to health as high folate levels and circulating unmetabolized folic acid (UMFA),
which occurs in blood with doses of folic acid as low as 0.2mg/d, have been associated with
accelerated growth of some pre-cancerous cells, and altered DNA methylation and gene
expression.
To inform the efficacy and potential harm of high-dose folic acid supplementation in Canadian
children with SCD, a double-blind randomized controlled cross-over trial is proposed.
Children with SCD (n=36, aged 2-19 y) will be recruited from BC Children’s Hospital and
randomized to initially receive 1 mg/d folic acid or a placebo for 12-weeks (wk). After a
12-wk washout period, treatments will be reversed.
– Diagnosis of sickle cell disease
– Aged 2-19 years
– Receive medical treatment at BC Children’s Hospital
– Blood transfusion in the last 12 weeks (84 days)