iron is an indispensable substance for hemoglobin synthesis and red blood cell production. When lacking in the body, it can cause iron deficiency anemia, leading to fatigue, rapid heartbeat, and shortness of breath. Who needs iron supplementation?
Which types of people need iron supplements?
1, 6-month-old infants
Insufficient iron storage in the body of pregnant women or anemia during pregnancy will lead to low birth weight children, and low birth weight children are more likely to develop ischemic anemia. In addition, gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia can also cause low neonatal iron stores. Generally, the iron in breast milk can meet the needs of children before 6 months. However, after 6 months, the intestinal absorption rate of iron is low, coupled with the rapid development of the child, a large amount of iron needs to be supplemented.
2, children and adolescents
Puberty is a golden period of rapid growth, especially adolescent girls, menstruation every month increases the demand for iron in adolescence. Lack of iron in childhood can cause poor cognitive development and poor academic performance. Lack of iron in adolescence can increase the risk of mental illness, such as anxiety, schizophrenia, and depression.
3, pregnant women
fetus and placenta have high iron utilization rate, coupled with the increase in blood volume of pregnant women, so you must supplement enough iron during pregnancy to maintain the health of pregnant women and fetuses.
4, chronic blood loss
acute blood loss or chronic bleeding may cause iron deficiency in the body; athletes who participate in strenuous exercise will lose a lot of iron every day; chronic kidney disease patients, especially dialysis patients, lose blood for a long time, and continuous inflammation can cause Insufficient iron supply leads to iron deficiency anemia.
5, suffering from certain diseases
inflammatory bowel disease, body obesity, chronic diseases, atrophic gastritis and breast cancer may all cause anemia. In addition, it also reduces the iron concentration in the circulating blood when suffering from acute or chronic inflammation, which is common in patients with cancer, trauma, parasitic infections, and chronic infections.
How to supplement iron?
Iron deficiency patients need to follow the doctor’s instructions to supplement iron, but iron can bring certain side effects to the gastrointestinal tract such as nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, dry stool and diarrhea, in order to reduce the iron in the gastrointestinal tract. Discomfort symptoms, try to take it after meals. In addition, the one-time dosage should not be too large to avoid acute iron poisoning. It is necessary to adhere to the long-term, low-dose principle. Oral iron should put the medicine on the tongue and drink it directly with water. Do not chew the medicine, otherwise it will stain the teeth and affect the appearance.
Warm reminder that
should not be used with iron, tannic acid and antacid drugs when taking orally ferrous sulfate, otherwise it will affect the body's absorption of iron. Do not eat peanuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds or coffee during this period, otherwise it will destroy the active ingredients in the iron. In addition, it should not be taken with milk and strong tea, because milk contains high phosphoric acid, which can affect iron absorption.
