MTHFR stands for methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, it's an essential enzyme in human body. This enzyme plays a role in processing amino acids, the building blocks of proteins.
Being lack of this enzyme can increase the likelihood of the mental health issues incl. depression, ASD, ADHD, ipolar disorder, schizophre. In addition, when the enzyme is not working at normal capacity, it can lead to elevated levels of homocysteine in the blood, which can lead to cardiovascular disease and stroke, recurrent miscarriage, migraine with aura, osteoporosis, and some cancers.
MTHFR deficiency is a genetic disorder, it's result of mutation of MTHFR gene.
By some estimates, up to 40% of the population may have an MTHFR mutation of some kind. The current data suggest that between 6 and 14% of Caucasians and about 2% of those of African descent probably have a more severe (two mutated alleles) version of the mutation. In Hispanics, this number may be as high as 21%.