Introduction
Floradix® is a drug which is available over the counter in most pharmacies. Its function is to replenish the iron stores and to compensate for iron deficiency conditions. This can be counteracted by taking Floradix®.
As iron deficiency is a serious condition, the iron reserves should be replenished with a special diet or by various means. Floradix® can, according to the manufacturer, be used when there is an increased iron requirement or deficiency symptoms. It is a mainly plant-based product and is recommended by the manufacturer especially for women during pregnancy and lactation.
Iron Deficiency
An iron deficiency is, as the name suggests, a deficiency condition of the body, which affects the trace element iron. At the beginning, iron deficiency can be completely asymptomatic, but at a certain point it can become dangerous. The ideal values lie thereby with men in the range of 80-180 μg/dl and with women in the range of 60-160 μg/dl.
Children (2 to 12 years) must be considered separately from adults, whereby the sex plays a subordinate role: 22 – 135 μg/dl iron should be contained in the child’s blood, depending on age. The main task of iron is its function as a component of many enzymes. Iron plays a central role in myoglobin and hemoglobin.
Hemoglobin is contained in the red blood cells, the erythrocytes, and is responsible for the absorption of oxygen from the lungs. Iron is therefore a vital trace element. Normally, an iron deficiency is caused by malnutrition, which means that there is not enough iron in the food.
But bleeding can also be responsible for iron deficiency. Bleeding causes the loss of red blood cells, which contain the iron-rich haemoglobin. Continuous bleeding such as menstrual bleeding is in the foreground, less bleeding from injuries.
Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract can also lead to continuous blood loss. Pregnant women also need more iron than other people due to the increased consumption by the growing baby. The symptoms of iron deficiency can be complex.
There can be defects of the skin and mucous membrane. This can be seen in torn corners of the mouth, tongue burning and difficulty swallowing, but also in brittle nails and hair loss. Neurological problems such as headaches, psychological symptoms or lack of concentration can also occur.
Iron deficiency anaemia, which can occur in severe deficiency conditions, is accompanied by the symptoms of anaemia – fatigue, palpitations, dizziness and possibly shortness of breath. When an anemia becomes clinically apparent varies from patient to patient and is related to the general health and physique of the person affected. During pregnancy the woman consumes about 800 to 1200 mg more iron than usual.
This difference becomes even more serious when one considers that the monthly menstrual bleeding, which causes the loss of about 20 to 40 mg of iron each time, is absent. The iron is needed to ensure infant and maternal growth and to ensure the supply of both. The greatest changes are the increased production of hemoglobin, the iron-rich oxygen transporter in red blood cells, the formation of the placenta and the growth of the baby itself.
At birth, more or less blood is lost individually, but this is always associated with iron loss. The woman thus loses up to 250 mg iron at birth. The body of a pregnant woman adapts to the changes as best it can and tries to mobilize more iron: more iron is absorbed in the intestine, existing iron is made transportable by transferrin and the iron storage, the so-called ferritin, is tapped.
Since the demands on the maternal iron balance are enormously high, it can happen that the mother’s reserves are not completely sufficient. A balanced diet with iron-containing food is important. Since even a balanced diet is often not effective enough to compensate for iron deficiency, the suffering of iron deficiency anemia is relatively common among expectant mothers.
At this point at the latest, an iron supplement should be used in consultation with the treating physician (family doctor or pregnancy-accompanying gynecologist). The choice is up to the patient and the doctor’s recommendation.Floradix® is one of the possible supplements and is often used to treat iron deficiency during pregnancy due to its good tolerability. The same symptoms of iron deficiency apply to children as to adults.
However, anemia can pose a greater risk to the development of the child than is the case in adults. An oxygen deficiency develops in the blood because not enough hemoglobin can be produced in the lungs to absorb oxygen. As is known, damage due to oxygen deficiency occurs more frequently in the child’s growth stage than in adults.
Mental underdevelopment, motor disorders, psychological problems and behavioral disorders are threatening. But iron deficiency can not only harm infants and children. If the mother of an adolescent baby suffers from iron deficiency, this can have serious consequences for the child. On the one hand, there is an increased risk of the child dying before it is born in the womb, and on the other hand there can be growth disorders or an undersupply via the placenta.
