Hanoi: Selling high doses of vitamin A online

Ms. Duong Thu Huong – Ha Dong sells high-dose vitamin A for 25,000 VND/tablet, selling from 2 tablets. According to Ms. Huong, this is the standard vitamin A in the national program for young children to drink, but because there is a lot of it, the health station sells it outside.

Ms. Huong said that from June 3, she had sold about 100 pills, on June 4, there were more than 100 pills left for Ms. Huong to sell. High doses of vitamin A are good for both children and adults. In particular, this product is not sold in the market, so it is difficult for parents to buy it for their children.

Ms. Huong confirmed that the source she took was a guaranteed product, it was not possible to tell where the supplier was, but 100% of the goods are in the national program, not floating goods.

Ms. Do Phuong – Hanoi said that her two children are past the age of taking vitamin A. Because she heard that vitamin A is good, Phuong also ordered 8 tablets online for her children to take with the hope of good health.

However, when she bought it, she did not dare to give it to her children because she read the article that it might be fake or poor quality medicine.

Currently, many parents are afraid to send their children to take high doses of vitamin A at health stations because of the side effects that cause digestive disorders and vomiting for children, but many parents have children who are too old to take vitamin A and try to hunt them down. Find me 1-2 tablets.

Selling vitamin A online.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Tuan – Hai Phong said that his father had type 2 diabetes for many years with poor eyesight. Every year, on the occasion of young children taking high doses of vitamin A, Mr. Tuan also tries to ask his friends to help him get 2 pills to supplement for the old man to make his eyes brighter.

According to Mr. Khong Minh Tuan – Deputy Director of the Hanoi CDC, there is a phenomenon of selling high-dose vitamin A online. Mr. Tuan said that the Hanoi Department of Health has issued a document directing medical centers to monitor and check the above information.

“The distribution of vitamin A to health stations is based on surveys and reports on the number of doses given by the health stations, not arbitrarily distributed, as many pills as you can” – Mr. Tuan said.

High-dose vitamin A in the National program is packaged in a separate bottle, designed differently from other vitamin A-containing foods.

In addition, Mr. Tuan also said that high doses of vitamin A must be clearly indicated for each subject, not everyone can buy and use. Therefore, he strongly advises not to use it arbitrarily.

Those who are of age to take Vitamin A, if they have not yet taken it, can go to the health stations of the ward and commune to take it because the program is still extended for children.

Risk of poisoning

According to Dr. Huynh Wynn Tran – VietMD Medical Organization, USA, vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that plays an important role in vision, cell development, reproduction, fetus, and immune system. . Vitamin A may also act as an antioxidant by neutralizing substances that damage cells.

There are 2 types of vitamin A: One is a preformed vitamin A (preformed like Retinol, Retinyl Esters) found only in meat, when absorbed into the body can be used immediately, the other is a provitamin (provitamin Carotenoid like Beta-Carotene). ) will slowly convert into vitamin A when inside the body.

Vitamin A is found in colorful fresh fruits and vegetables and milk, meat, liver, fish, and fish oils.

Vitamin A deficiency can lead to dangerous symptoms such as blindness, which is one of the common diseases in poor countries. Vitamin A deficiency also leads to intestinal diseases such as diabetes, increased risk of blood diseases, affecting the fetus.

Certain diseases have a high risk of vitamin A deficiency such as premature infants, patients with chronic intestinal diseases such as Celiac disease, cirrhosis of the liver, intestinal surgery, and patients in underdeveloped countries. However, Dr. Huynh Wynn Tran believes that patients in the United States and Vietnam are less likely to have vitamin A deficiency because of a more complete diet.

Therefore, abuse of vitamin A can cause overdose causing poisoning. Vitamin A can cause acute or chronic poisoning. In two cases, patients may experience yellow skin, headache, abdominal pain, vomiting, and dizziness. Long-term vitamin A poisoning can lead to skin changes, elevated liver enzymes, fatigue, and other less obvious symptoms.

For the average person, Dr. Huynh Wynn recommends that the best way for the body to absorb vitamin A (and many other vitamins and minerals) is naturally through fresh foods. Simply because when we eat fruits and foods with vitamin A, the body also absorbs other substances, adds fiber, and importantly, has no preservatives. Vitamin A in functional foods often has preservatives, this type often has a high concentration, which is easy to be poisoned if overdosed.

Khanh Chi