One of the most important trace elements necessary for bone growth and normal functioning of the heart muscle is calcium. The substance is of particular value for children. The main source of this trace element is dairy products. Doctors prescribe special medications to treat calcium deficiency. Calcium gluconate is recommended for children for a variety of diseases. The drug is available in several forms.
What is the medicine?
Calcium gluconate is a very popular and time-tested remedy that doctors can prescribe for various pathologies that have nothing to do with each other. The active substance - the calcium salt of gluconic acid - has the form of a white powder. The component regulates calcium-phosphorus metabolism in the body. Calcium, in turn, is necessary for the formation of bones, dental tissue, nails and hair. In addition, the chemical compound is involved in the transmission of nerve impulses and the work of the heart muscle, strengthens the walls of blood vessels, necessary for blood coagulation.
The drug is produced by many pharmaceutical companies in various forms: chewable tablets, powder and injection. Can I give my child calcium gluconate tablets? Many pediatricians recommend this drug to children even in their first year of life (in a certain dosage). After all, babies need constant replenishment of the reserves of this trace element in the body. This is necessary for the proper formation of the skeleton and the development of muscle tissue. A lack of calcium often leads to a decrease in the protective functions of the body.
Composition and release forms
The most popular form of the drug is tablets, which may contain 250 or 500 mg of the active substance. As auxiliary components, talc, potato starch and calcium stearate are used. Chewable tablets also have fruit flavors.
Solution for injection (10%) is contained in ampoules containing 10 ml of medicinal fluid. In one ampoule - 1 g of active substance.
Indications for use
Calcium is involved in the most important processes in the body. Each person needs to use 800-2000 mg of this substance per day. With a shortage, a variety of pathological conditions can develop (in both children and adults).
Calcium gluconate is recommended for the following ailments:
- rickets in children (vitamin D deficiency);
- hypoparateriosis (parathyroid hormone deficiency);
- toxic liver damage, hepatitis;
- violation of calcium metabolism;
- enhanced excretion of calcium from the body associated with long-term treatment with certain drugs;
- increased need for calcium (pregnancy, lactation, adolescence);
- bone fractures;
- bleeding
- micronutrient deficiency in food;
- frequent allergic reactions;
- poisoning with oxalic, fluoric acid, magnesium salts;
- pulmonary tuberculosis.
Pediatric Use
Calcium gluconate is prescribed to children quite often. A direct indication for the use of the drug is primarily the lack of a trace element in the body. If the baby is intolerant of milk protein, calcium-based preparations cannot be dispensed with. Parents should remember that it is highly undesirable for a child to prescribe a drug on their own. Dosage is calculated depending on the age of the baby.
What is the use for children?
Calcium is vital is necessary baby in the period of fetal development. With a deficiency, such babies are often born underweight, and in the first six months of life, they may develop rickets. To avoid such a pathological condition, the expectant mother should monitor her diet and take vitamin complexes. At birth, calcium-containing preparations may also be prescribed to the baby.
Can calcium gluconate be given to children and in what form is it better to give it? Quite often, parents ask pediatricians such a question. A simple and inexpensive tool has proven itself exclusively on the positive side. For the treatment of calcium deficiency in babies of various age categories and other ailments, calcium gluconate in tablets is mainly prescribed.
Simple white pills do not contain sugar, flavors and dyes, which is a significant advantage. In this form, the drug can be given even to babies prone to allergic reactions, and with an increased blood sugar.
Calcium Gluconate: instructions for use
For children, the dosage of the medicine should be selected by the doctor. Typically, experts recommend giving 500 mg of the active substance three times a day to babies in their first year of life. The tablet is pre-ground into powder and stirred in a small amount of infant formula or breast milk.
Children from one to four years of age are prescribed calcium gluconate in a dosage of 1 g at a time. 3 g of active ingredient (6 tablets) should be taken per day. From 5 years, the drug can be given to a child in the amount of 6-10 tablets per day. A more accurate dosage should be chosen by a specialist, taking into account the condition of the baby and his need for a trace element.
Children who are in primary school, calcium gluconate is recommended to give 4 tablets at least twice a day.
Calcium Gluconate for children up to a year
Komarovsky Oleg Evgenievich is a well-known children's doctor, whose advice many parents listen to. The doctor claims that the main reason for the deficiency of calcium in the child’s body is the lack of a trace element along with food and malabsorption in the intestines.
For allergic diseases, rickets, bleeding disorders, skin pathologies, a famous pediatrician recommends giving babies calcium gluconate in tablets. Komarovsky also advises to prescribe the drug with a tendency to dermatitis, muscle weakness, and increased vascular permeability. The medicine will bring significant benefits in the process of treating colds.
Calcium Gluconate for Allergies
One of the effects that the drug has is to reduce the production of histamine - the substance responsible for the occurrence of an allergic reaction. Scientists have found that a lack of calcium in the body leads to an abnormal reaction of the immune system. For children, this problem is currently particularly relevant.
Calcium gluconate will help smooth out the symptoms of an allergic reaction. The instruction (for children, the drug is absolutely safe) says that the medicine will help to quickly remove toxins from the body, strengthen blood vessels. Most often, the drug is used in the form of tablets. However, in some cases, an intravenous solution is indicated.
The drug is effective for such manifestations of an allergic reaction as urticaria, angioedema, dermatitis, itching of the skin. In some cases, it is prescribed in combination with other medicines.
Already more than one generation of doctors has been practicing the use of calcium gluconate to combat the symptoms of allergic reactions. Calcium salt, which is used as an active ingredient, is well absorbed from the intestines and absorbed into the blood. The maximum concentration of the active ingredient is fixed after 1.5-2 hours after taking the medicine.
Contraindications
You can give calcium gluconate to children and adult patients who do not have a history of certain contraindications. In pediatric practice, the drug is generally used only after consultation with the attending physician. It is forbidden to use calcium gluconate for the treatment in the presence of the following pathologies:
- intolerance to substances in the composition of the medication;
- hypercoagulation;
- sarcoidosis;
- hypercalciuria;
- renal failure (in severe form);
- atherosclerosis of blood vessels;
- hypercalcemia;
- calcium nephrourolithiasis.
Can I give calcium gluconate to children if the instructions contain an age limit? Pediatricians argue that if the dosage and treatment regimen are followed, the medication will bring exclusively benefit to the child.
Application features
For better absorption of the active component, it is recommended to take calcium gluconate before meals or 2 hours after a meal. The tablets must be chewed or ground into powder and washed down with water. Babies are recommended to give the drug along with a small amount of milk.
It is forbidden to take calcium preparations and iron-containing medicines at the same time. The minimum time interval between doses of these drugs is 2 hours. In combination with tetracycline antibiotics, insoluble complexes will form.
Side effects
Despite its safety and effectiveness, the drug is still a pharmaceutical product and may cause some side effects. You should familiarize yourself with these phenomena described in the instructions before taking calcium gluconate. It is advisable for children at the beginning of therapy to give a minimum dose of the drug and after a while to evaluate the body's response.
Long-term treatment with the drug or constant exceeding the dosage can provoke the development of the following adverse events:
- constipation
- vomiting, nausea;
- arterial hypertension;
- kidney stone disease;
- polyuria;
- mental disorders;
- muscle weakness;
- fatigue, irritability;
- bradycardia;
- loss of consciousness;
- hypercalcemia.
Patient Reviews
Calcium gluconate is one of the few drugs that, despite their low cost, have a powerful therapeutic effect. The drug is used to treat a wide variety of pathological conditions. Pediatricians prescribe calcium gluconate to children with a deficiency of this trace element, suffering from rickets or frequent attacks of allergies. Most often used in the form of tablets.