Folic acid tablets: 3 significant effects Especially for pregnant women

Folic acid tablets: 3 significant effects Especially for pregnant women.  Many people have taken vitamins, such as vitamin C and vitamin B2. In fact, there is another vitamin, folic acid, whose price is very low. This folic acid is actually a water-soluble B vitamin.

Many women have this experience when they are pregnant, that is, doctors repeatedly order themselves to take small doses of folic acid tablets to prevent fetal neural tube defects. In fact, the use of folic acid is far from limited to this. Today I will give you a popular science folic acid.

Causes of folic acid deficiency

Under normal circumstances, our body is not deficient in folic acid, this is because most of our daily food contains folic acid. The total reserves of folic acid in healthy people range from 5 mg to 20 mg, but only enough for the human body for 4 months. In the reduction of intake (too little intake of vegetables and meat, partial eclipse, food restriction, etc.), the need for increased (infants, adolescents, pregnant and lactating women; tumors, hyperthyroidism, chronic hemolysis, long-term blood Dialysis), malabsorption (diarrhea, small intestinal diseases and other diseases; infections of drugs such as ethanol, sulfasalazine, and phenytoin) and utilization disorders (impact of methotrexate, triamterene, pyrimethamine and other drugs), etc. Under the circumstances, the requirement of folic acid is greatly increased. If the supplement is insufficient, folic acid deficiency can occur.

3 major effects：

1) Treatment of megaloblastic anemia

Taking folic acid can quickly improve the abnormal phenomenon of megaloblastic anemia and improve anemia, but it cannot prevent the nerve damage caused by vitamin B12 deficiency; and if folic acid is still taken in large doses, vitamin B12 consumption due to strong hematopoiesis will be further reduced The content of serum vitamin B12, on the contrary, leads to the irreversible development of nerve damage. Therefore, it is best to take vitamin B12 at the same time to improve neurological symptoms.

2) Prevent fetal neural tube malformations

Small doses of folic acid applied to pregnant women can prevent fetal neural tube defects. For adults, the daily diet can meet the body’s need for folic acid, but pregnant women need to supplement more folic acid to ensure the health of the fetus, and the accelerated metabolism of pregnant women will lead to faster folic acid excretion, so you need to supplement the appropriate amount Folic acid (usually 0.4 mg per day). In addition, for women receiving antiepileptic drugs, in order to reduce the risk of neural tube defects, it is recommended to supplement enough folic acid (5 mg a day) before and during pregnancy.

3) Prevention and treatment of H-type hypertension

H-type hypertension refers to the high concentration of homocysteine ​​in the blood in the body. Homocysteine ​​(HCY) is a sulfur-containing amino acid. The average fasting plasma cysteine ​​level of healthy adults is 5-10um/L. When the level of homocysteine ​​is ≥10um/L, it is called high homocysteine, and hypertension is combined with elevated homocysteine, which is called H-type hypertension. The reason may be related to genetic factors, insufficient intake of vitamin B6, vitamin B12, folic acid, kidney failure, some drugs or diseases, and large amounts of coffee, alcohol, and smoking.

The “Chinese Hypertension Guide” points out that hyperhomocysteinemia will increase the risk of stroke, and the proportion of people with hypertension in some countries with this type of hypertension is very high! Studies have shown that patients with hypertension have an increase in homocysteine ​​at the same time, and the risk of wind is 5 times higher than that of ordinary hypertension!

For hypertensive patients with elevated plasma homocysteine ​​(H-type hypertension, also known as the most stroke-prone hypertension), it is necessary to consider the control of blood pressure and plasma homocysteine ​​levels, and appropriate folic acid supplementation ( 0.4-2 mg/day) and vitamin B12 (500 micrograms/day), can reduce plasma homocysteine ​​levels.

Conclusion

In short, although folic acid tablets are cheap, they are very useful. They are mainly used in three major areas: folic acid deficiency caused by various reasons and megaloblastic anemia caused by folic acid deficiency; small doses are used to prevent fetuses in pregnant women Neural tube malformation; H-type hypertension caused by elevated homocysteine.

(source:internet, reference only)

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