How effective is calcium injection?

For young children, if the body is severely deficient in calcium, it is easy for the child to suffer from rickets. Therefore, it is very important to pay attention to calcium supplementation for the child's growth and development. It helps the child grow taller and helps the child's bone development. If the child is severely deficient in calcium, then the diet can no longer meet the child's calcium needs. Calcium injections can be used to supplement calcium, and the effect is also good. However, calcium injections must be used under the guidance of a doctor.

How effective is calcium injection?

It is currently recognized by countries around the world that the recommended daily intake of vitamin D for children of all ages is 400 international units. If children's faces and hands are exposed directly to ultraviolet rays from sunlight for half an hour every day, rickets can be prevented. For some large cities with serious coal smoke and oil fume pollution, 2 hours of exposure per day is required. Ultraviolet rays in the shade in summer can also achieve this purpose. Be sure to open the windows for sunbathing in winter because ultraviolet rays cannot pass through glass windows.

Some parents think that rickets symptoms will be relieved after vitamin D injection, so they continue to inject it on their own initiative. Vitamin D is not a nutritional supplement, but a precursor of a hormone that can be stored in the body. It has a long half-life and is more toxic when taken by injection than orally. Symptoms of vitamin D excess include decreased appetite, nausea, vomiting, constipation or diarrhea, frequent urination, weight loss, sweating, irritability, low fever, etc. Blood calcium and urine calcium increase, and abnormal calcification may occur in organs such as the kidneys, brain, heart, and lungs.

It is worth noting that excessive sweating and irritability are often considered to be calcium deficiency, which in turn increases the dosage of vitamin D, creating a vicious cycle. Therefore, it is recommended to absorb vitamin D naturally through sunlight and mainly through oral administration. When taking oral calcium supplements, it is important to consider that infancy is a critical period for the development of the baby's taste buds and the formation of taste preferences. Too many or too strong flavors will affect the development of the baby's taste buds and lead to picky eating. Therefore, when choosing calcium for your baby, you should consider the development characteristics of their taste buds. Do not choose calcium supplements that are too sour or too sweet. Calcium supplements that are natural and tasteless or have a light milk flavor similar to breast milk are best. If intramuscular injection is necessary, it should be performed under the correct diagnosis and guidance of a doctor.

It is not advisable to blindly take calcium injections to supplement calcium

"Intravenous calcium injection will cause blood calcium concentration to rise sharply in a short period of time. At this time, the human body will secrete a large amount of calcitonin. In addition to some calcium being excreted in the urine (which can easily cause urinary tract stones), the rest will be abnormally transferred: part of it is sent to the bones and mainly deposited in the parts of the bones and joints that are under greater stress, such as the lumbar spine, cervical spine, knee joints, heels, etc., causing bone hyperplasia in these parts; part of the calcium is deposited in the blood vessels, causing vascular calcification, which can cause cardiovascular disease over time."

Therefore, it is not recommended for patients to supplement calcium through calcium injections. The correct way to supplement calcium is to get it through eating. Patients with calcium deficiency can eat more calcium-rich foods, such as milk and dairy products, beans and bean products, dried shrimps, kelp, etc. If necessary, they can take calcium supplements under the guidance of a doctor.