nutritional supplements in treating vitamin and mineral deficiencies

A recent study in which a number of Saudi researchers participated and published in one of the well-known scientific journals revealed the importance of nutritional supplements and their effective role in treating mineral and vitamin deficiencies among many members of society, especially those with special needs for these supplements such as pregnant women, children in different stages of growth and patients Diabetes, chronic diseases and the elderly, and the study showed that obtaining supplements from natural sources or from trusted international companies greatly helps to achieve the goal of using them, but the wrong use of these supplements in excess or without medical advice or using poor quality of manufacturing led to Caused great damage and dangers.

Dr. Ashraf Abdul Qayyum, the Saudi Family Medicine Consultant, Assistant Professor at the College of Medicine at Umm Al-Qura University, stressed during the lecture he delivered within the ceremonial activities of the Saudi Manayer Najd Company and the British Vitabiotics on the occasion of the passage of more than 15 years of cooperation in the service of Saudi family health and the Saudi community, the necessity Strong oversight from the Ministry of Health and the relevant authorities.

He said: Based on two recent studies published in 2017 and 2018 that aim to study the behaviors of the use of nutritional supplements in the Saudi society and the extent of benefit and harm observed among their users, the use of nutritional supplements without any strict controls or supervision threatens 22% of Saudis, and emphasized: that more than 40% use it because of the temptations caused by TV ads or social networks.

He stressed that doctors do not provide enough information to patients about vitamins, minerals, herbs and other supplements that are dangerous for their use in the absence of medical reasons or as a result of the use of valleys with low standards of manufacturing quality and unreliable.

He added: Those studies confirmed that 22% of Saudis use nutritional supplements, and 77% benefit from them, but the rest are exposed to risks, knowing that 47% use them regularly, and only 37% use them according to a prescription, while 40% push them to buy them. Ads published on television and social media.

He pointed out: A previous study conducted in this field confirmed that doctors do not provide enough information to patients about vitamins, minerals, herbs and other nutritional supplements, and the researchers found that the discussions about herbal supplements and related to them took place more than discussions about vitamins and minerals. This is important, because herbal supplements and their like are more likely to result in potentially harmful interactions with the various therapeutic medicines that chronic disease patients use.

He pointed out: that nutritional supplements may increase the effectiveness of some drugs, and the effectiveness of other drugs may decrease, but some supplements can change the absorption of the drug, and this in turn affects the effectiveness of the drugs, stressing that the recklessness of taking nutritional supplements with drugs may threaten the patient''s life, for example drugs Heart disease, organ transplantation, contraception and mental illness, among others.

For his part: Chairman of the United Yassin Group, Muhammad Abdul Rahim Yassin, affirmed their full commitment to contribute to the success of the Saudi health system, through a successful global alliance with the British company that has been providing pioneering and distinguished products in the Saudi market for more than 15 years, in addition to its presence in more than 15 years. From 100 markets across the globe, indicating that this step aims to raise the quality of the products provided to achieve the ultimate goal of the National Transformation Program by increasing the private sector’s contribution to health care spending from 25% to 35%, which will lead to achieving financial sustainability in the health sector It improves the quality of services, and supports socio-economic development in the Kingdom.

He praised the contents of the Kingdom''s Vision 2030, which embodies the directives of the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to invest the factors of the Kingdom''s economic, geographical and human strength in being strongly on the roadmap for the future and achieving prosperity and prosperity for the people of the nation.

Stressing that the Kingdom''s Vision 2030 is to enhance the role of the health sector in providing preventive health care services.