RESEARCH PROGRESS OF ORAL IRON SUPPLEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF IRON DEFICIENCY ANEMIA

Yijun Zheng^{1, *}, Liang Zhang², Mingchun Wen²

¹School of Chinese Materia Medica, Tianjin, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 301617, China - ²School of Tea and Food Science & Technology, Hefei, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China

Objective: Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA) is caused by the imbalance between the demand and supply of iron in the body, which leads to the depletion of iron storage in the body and then the iron deficiency in red blood cells. 

Methods: This suggests that adequate intake of iron is an effective way to prevent and treat iron-deficiency anemia. Iron supplement is the main drug for the treatment of IDA, which has been proved by many years of clinical experience, and its curative effect is accurate, mainly in the form of oral and intravenous injection. In comparison, oral iron supplements are cheaper, more convenient and safer to use. 

Results: Currently, oral iron supplements mainly include traditional iron supplements represented by ferrous sulfate and ferrous lactate and new iron supplements with macromolecular complexes. The former is cheap and easy to absorb, but it often causes some gastrointestinal adverse reactions, such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, etc., which limits its clinical application, while the latter mainly involves polysaccharide iron complex, polypeptide iron complex and iron-rich yeast. 

Conclusion: The adverse reaction is smaller and the absorption effect is better. This work summarizes the research history of IDA, iron supplements and the research status of new iron supplements, and looks forward to the development prospect of iron supplements in the future.