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Treatment of folic acid deficiency
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
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The optimal treatment result is achieved by prescribing folic acid in a dose of 100-200 mcg per day. One tablet contains 0.3-1.0 mg of folic acid, injection solution - 1 mg/ml. The duration of therapy is several months, until a new population of erythrocytes is formed.
In the treatment of hereditary dihydrofolate reductase deficiency, treatment is carried out not with folic acid, but with N-5-formyltetrahydrofolic acid.
Reversal of folic acid deficiency symptoms occurs fairly quickly. Within 24-48 hours after taking the drug, the serum iron level decreases (usually to low values); the reticulocyte level increases by the 2nd-4th day of treatment, reaching a peak on the 4th-7th day. Simultaneously with the increase in the number of reticulocytes, the content of leukocytes and platelets increases. Megaloblastic changes in the bone marrow disappear within 24-48 hours from the start of therapy, but large myelocytes and metamyelocytes can persist for several months. Improvement in appetite and the general condition of the patient is noted after 1-2 days. The hemoglobin level normalizes in the 2nd-6th week of treatment.
Prevention of folic acid deficiency (insufficiency)
Prevention of folic acid deficiency consists of dietary correction (elimination of malabsorption symptoms and causes of alimentary folate deficiency). Short-term folic acid supplementation is prescribed. Lifelong folic acid at a dose of 1-2 mg per day is prescribed:
- in chronic hemolysis (eg, thalassemia);:
- if the agliadin diet is ineffective;
- in case of malabsorption syndrome.