1. Home
  2. Analysis
  3. Folic-acid
  4. Leukoencephalopathy

Folic acid and Leukoencephalopathy - a phase IV clinical study of FDA data

Summary:

Leukoencephalopathy is reported as a side effect among people who take Folic acid (folic acid), especially for people who are female, 60+ old, have been taking the drug for < 1 month also take Methotrexate, and have Depression.

The phase IV clinical study analyzes which people have Leukoencephalopathy when taking Folic acid. It is created by eHealthMe based on reports of 162,497 people who have side effects when taking Folic acid from the FDA, and is updated regularly.

What is Folic acid?

Folic acid has active ingredients of folic acid. It is often used in rheumatoid arthritis. eHealthMe is studying from 165,028 Folic acid users. Check the latest studies of Folic acid.

What is Leukoencephalopathy?

Leukoencephalopathy (disease of the white matter in the brain) is found to be associated with 378 drugs and 626 conditions by eHealthMe. Check the latest studies of Leukoencephalopathy.

eHealthMe: drug outcomes in the real world

eHealthMe runs one of the largest post-marketing drug safety studies in the world. We study millions of patients and 5,000 more each day. Our data-driven phase IV clinical trials have been referenced on 800+ peer-reviewed medical publications including The Lancet, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, and Nature. Tools to study our phase IV findings are available to the public, anonymous and free >>>.

On Sep, 02, 2026

162,497 people reported to have side effects when taking Folic acid.
Among them, 41 people (0.03%) have Leukoencephalopathy.

Could Folic acid cause Leukoencephalopathy?

Among these 41 people:

How long have people been on Folic acid when they have Leukoencephalopathy? *

  • < 1 month: 50 %
  • 1 - 6 months: 0.0 %
  • 6 - 12 months: 50 %
  • 1 - 2 years: 0.0 %
  • 2 - 5 years: 0.0 %
  • 5 - 10 years: 0.0 %
  • 10+ years: 0.0 %

What is the gender of people who have Leukoencephalopathy when taking Folic acid? *

  • female: 87.18 %
  • male: 12.82 %

What is the age of people who have Leukoencephalopathy when taking Folic acid? *

  • 0-1: 0.0 %
  • 2-9: 6.06 %
  • 10-19: 0.0 %
  • 20-29: 0.0 %
  • 30-39: 0.0 %
  • 40-49: 12.12 %
  • 50-59: 9.09 %
  • 60+: 72.73 %

What are other drugs people take besides Folic acid? *

  1. Methotrexate: 15 people, 36.59%
  2. Prednisolone: 11 people, 26.83%
  3. Acyclovir: 8 people, 19.51%
  4. Lisinopril: 8 people, 19.51%
  5. Prednisone: 8 people, 19.51%
  6. Prilosec: 6 people, 14.63%
  7. Azathioprine: 6 people, 14.63%
  8. Effexor: 5 people, 12.20%
  9. Flagyl: 5 people, 12.20%
  10. Remicade: 5 people, 12.20%

What are other side effects people have besides Leukoencephalopathy? *

  1. Cerebral Atrophy (decrement in size of brain): 10 people, 24.39%
  2. Headache (pain in head): 7 people, 17.07%
  3. Infection: 7 people, 17.07%
  4. Confusional State: 6 people, 14.63%
  5. Neuropathy Peripheral (surface nerve damage): 6 people, 14.63%
  6. High Blood Pressure: 6 people, 14.63%
  7. Speech Impairment (Adult) (inability to speak (adult)): 6 people, 14.63%
  8. Paraesthesia (sensation of tingling, tickling, prickling, pricking, or burning of a person's skin with no apparent long-term physical effect): 6 people, 14.63%
  9. Nasal Congestion (blockage of the nasal passages usually due to membranes lining the nose becoming swollen from inflamed blood vessels): 5 people, 12.20%
  10. Acne (skin problems that cause pimples): 5 people, 12.20%

What are the existing conditions these people have? *

  1. Crohn's Disease (a condition that causes inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract): 5 people, 12.20%
  2. Depression: 5 people, 12.20%
  3. High Blood Pressure: 3 people, 7.32%
  4. Ulcerative Colitis (inflammatory bowel disease (ibd). it causes swelling, ulcerations, and loss of function of the large intestine): 2 people, 4.88%
  5. Lung Neoplasm Malignant (cancer tumour of lung): 2 people, 4.88%
  6. Birth Control: 2 people, 4.88%
  7. Breast Cancer Metastatic: 2 people, 4.88%
  8. Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (a condition in which stomach contents leak backward from the stomach into the oesophagus): 2 people, 4.88%
  9. Lung Cancer - Non-Small Cell (lung cancer): 2 people, 4.88%
  10. Major Depression (a mood state that goes well beyond temporarily feeling sad or blue. it is a serious medical illness that affects one's thoughts, feelings): 2 people, 4.88%

* Approximation only. Some reports may have incomplete information.

Do you take Folic acid and have Leukoencephalopathy?

- Check whether Leukoencephalopathy is associated with a drug or a condition
- Predict drug outcomes for up to one year with AI
- Get an AI agent to monitor your drugs continuously

Related studies:

Effectiveness of, long term effects of, and alternative drugs to Folic acid:

Leukoencephalopathy treatments and more:

How severe was Leukoencephalopathy and when was it recovered:

Expand to all the drugs that have ingredients of folic acid:

Sub-studies by gender and age:

Female: 0-1 2-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

Male: 0-1 2-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

Browse all side effects of Folic acid:

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Browse all the drugs that are associated with Leukoencephalopathy:

Browse all the conditions that are associated with Leukoencephalopathy:

How the study uses the data?

The study uses data from the FDA. It is based on folic acid (the active ingredients of Folic acid) and Folic acid (the brand name). Other drugs that have the same active ingredients (e.g. generic drugs) are not considered. Dosage of drugs is not considered in the study.

How to use the study?

DO NOT STOP MEDICATIONS without first consulting your doctor. If there are any serious or long term adverse effects discovered in the study, discuss the study with your doctor to ensure that proper medication management will be in place if applicable.

Who is eHealthMe?

With medical big data and proven AI/ML algorithms, eHealthMe provides a platform for everyone to run phase IV clinical trials. We study millions of patients and 5,000 more each day. Results of our real-world drug study have been referenced on 800+ peer-reviewed medical publications, including The Lancet, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, and Nature. Our analysis results are available to researchers, health care professionals, patients (testimonials), and software developers (open API).

WARNING, DISCLAIMER, USE FOR PUBLICATION

WARNING: Please DO NOT STOP MEDICATIONS without first consulting a physician since doing so could be hazardous to your health.

DISCLAIMER: All material available on eHealthMe.com is for informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment provided by a qualified healthcare provider. All information is observation-only. Our phase IV clinical studies alone cannot establish cause-effect relationship. Different individuals may respond to medication in different ways. Every effort has been made to ensure that all information is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. The use of the eHealthMe site and its content is at your own risk.

If you use this eHealthMe study on publication, please acknowledge it with a citation: study title, URL, accessed date.

Recent studies on eHealthMe:

© 2026 eHealthMe.com. All rights reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of eHealthMe.com's terms of service and privacy policy.