"When people get old, high blood pressure comes."
Aunt Li is 48 years old this year, and since the second half of last year, she has often been weak, dizzy in the morning, and walking lightly. At first, she was diagnosed with high blood pressure at the clinic, but she did not completely improve after taking antihypertensive drugs, and she was still often dizzy, and she needed to be cared for by her daughter when she was severe.
"It's too much trouble, let my daughter run to me all day, or go to the big hospital to see."
After further diagnosis by the big hospital, the doctor said that Aunt Li's high blood pressure was not simple, and also prescribed folic acid tablets for her to take, saying that the treatment effect was better.
Folic acid, Aunt Li is not a stranger, the daughter is pregnant when eating this, the effect is not bad, but why do you have high blood pressure to eat it?
The doctor saw Aunt Li's doubts and decided to explain it to her.
<h1>First, high blood pressure also need to eat folic acid? It is not possible to generalize</h1>
Be aware that high blood pressure is a syndrome that can lead to an increase in blood pressure for many reasons. There is a substance in the human body called homocysteine (Hcy), which studies have shown to be an independent risk factor for high blood pressure, and high blood pressure caused by high Levels of Hcy is named H hypertension.
Huo Yong, a professor at Peking University First Hospital, said that while taking antihypertensive drugs, proper supplementation of folic acid can significantly reduce the level of H in patients with H-type hypertension, help patients effectively control blood pressure, and thus reduce the risk of cardiovascular events such as stroke.
Therefore, for patients with H-type hypertension, it is possible to routinely take folic acid tablets, which is why doctors recommend Aunt Li to take folic acid tablets. 、
However, it should be noted that folic acid is not suitable for all patients with high blood pressure and is not recommended as a conventional drug to prevent high blood pressure. Blind folic acid supplementation in other types of hypertension not only fails to achieve the effect of lowering blood pressure, but also may cause complications.
So when do people with H-type hypertension need to take folic acid?
Clinically, it is recommended that when the patient's Hcy level is higher than 15 μmol /L, it is recommended to supplement folic acid in time; if the Hcy level is 10 μmol/L~15 μmol/L, and other cardiovascular risk factors are high, it is best to take folic acid tablets; if the Hcy level is lower than 10 μmol/L, indicating that the risk factors are low, then you can supplement folic acid through food without special folic acid tablets.
The conventional dose of folic acid for H-type hypertension is 0.8 mg per day and should not be taken in excess.
<h1>Second, these uses of folic acid have been neglected for too long</h1>
In 2020, the first domestic "Multidisciplinary Expert Consensus on Rational Supplementation of Folic Acid in China" was released, written by authoritative institutions such as the Clinical Rational Drug Use Committee of the China Medical Education Association, pointing out the various roles of folic acid.
1. Pregnancy-ready diseases
In the early stages of pregnancy, physiological changes occur in the female body, as well as fetal growth and development, neurodevelopment, etc., which increase the need for folic acid, so women who are trying to conceive and early pregnancy can eat more foods rich in folic acid and supplement tablets if necessary.
2. Cardiovascular diseases
For patients with H-type hypertension, folic acid supplementation can reduce Hcy levels and prevent cardiovascular disease. Another analysis of 14 studies showed that folic acid supplementation reduced the relative risk of coronary heart disease by 12%.
3. Cognitive impairment
Some research evidence suggests that folate deficiency is associated with decreased cognitive function, and low levels of folic acid are associated with the onset of Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, the elderly can properly supplement folic acid to prevent Alzheimer's disease.
4. Chronic kidney disease
One study showed that patients with advanced renal failure or severe kidney disease are often accompanied by more severe cardiovascular disease, which reduces the level of Hcy in blood vessels by supplementing with folic acid, while reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
5. Rheumatic immune diseases
Patients with rheumatic immune diseases often need to take methotrexate drugs, but such drugs have greater irritation to the gastrointestinal tract and often produce adverse reactions such as nausea and vomiting. Folic acid can neutralize these side effects, so patients taking methotrexate can supplement with folic acid appropriately.
<h1>Third, pay attention, do not overdose, the harm of excessive</h1>
Although folic acid is good, but everything is appropriate, excessive supplementation of folic acid will bring bad consequences, it is best to use it under the advice of a doctor.
For healthy people, taking too much folic acid can interfere with the metabolism and absorption of zinc in the human body, resulting in zinc deficiency in the human body. For pregnant mothers-to-be, zinc deficiency will be more serious, not only affecting their own health, but also aggravating the pregnancy reaction.
In addition, studies have shown that pregnant women who supplement with excessive folic acid generally have poor mental state, and the risk of psychomotor delay for the fetus will also increase, and even interfere with the mental development of the fetus.
<h1>Fourth, in life, how to supplement folic acid? </h1>
In daily life, if you need additional folic acid supplementation, you can buy special folic acid tablets to take, but it is not recommended that healthy people supplement through tablets. In fact, folic acid is also widely present in our daily diet, and healthy people can consume it through dietary routes.
Vegetables with high folic acid content include rapeseed, watercress, hollow cabbage, asparagus, spinach, cabbage, cabbage and so on. In addition, some animal livers such as chicken liver, pig liver, beef liver, etc., the folic acid content is also very high.
In particular, the preservation of leafy green vegetables is more exquisite. In the case of general leafy vegetables, after four days of picking and storing at room temperature, the level of folic acid will be reduced by 50%. Therefore, green leafy vegetables and fruits are best bought and eaten fresh, and do not hoard them for too long.
<h1>Extension: How big is the gap between folic acid sent by the hospital and folic acid of 199 yuan in pharmacies? </h1>
Folic acid tablets are divided into health supplements and medicines, and there is a difference between the two. The listing of drugs is very strict, and there must be animal experiments and clinical trials. In contrast, some health care products only need to do animal experiments, and some only need to do human food tests.
Composition and content
Generally speaking, the expensive folic acid in pharmacies belongs to health care products, while the hospital issues approved drugs, and if you look closely at the ingredients and content in the instructions of the two types of folic acid, you will find that there is actually almost the same.
Publicity & Packaging
Why is the price gap between two things with the same effect so large? The key lies in the additional ingredients of health supplements, as well as gorgeous publicity and packaging.
The folic acid tablets issued by the hospital are composed of only folic acid, and the packaging is very simple, often a simple plastic bottle. However, in order to make the taste and taste of health care products better, some sweeteners, starches and other substances will be added, and a lot of money will be spent on brand promotion and packaging, and the price will rise.
Folic acid is one of the essential trace elements of the human body and can be obtained naturally from the daily diet and can also be supplemented by folic acid tablets. The benefits of folic acid for the human body are varied, and in addition to treating high blood pressure, it can also prevent cognitive impairment and cardiovascular disease. However, folic acid can not be over-supplemented, otherwise it will bring no small harm.
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Resources:
[1] Patients with hypertension should supplement folic acid to prevent stroke. Xiamen Daily.2018-01-03
[2] Multidisciplinary expert consensus on rational supplementation of folic acid in Chinese clinical practice[J]. Chinese Journal of Frontiers in Medicine(Electronic Edition), 2020, 12(11): 19-37.
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