Inflammatory bowel disease, IBD, is a condition that causes irritation and ulcers in the gastrointestinal tract.

It is a group of inflammatory conditions of the large intestine and, in some cases, the small intestine.

The most common for IBD are ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

Anemia caused by iron deficiency due to gastrointestinal blood loss and reduced iron absorption due to inflammation is often present.

It may also be exacerbated by a restrictive diet.

In the US it is estimated that currently 1 – 1,3 million people are suffering from IBD.

Crohn's disease and Ulcerative Colitis have together and incidence of 339 per 100 000 adults (cdc.gov)

The number is higher in Europe and increasing everywhere.

Treatment today consists mainly of oral non-heme iron prior to intravenous iron and erythropoietin treatment.

The prevalence of intolerance towards oral non-heme iron is however high, around 25 %.

The absorption of heme iron is several times higher and the side-effects rate significantly lower than for non-heme oral iron.

Heme iron is absorbed through a separate pathway and does not have to be discontinued when intravenous treatment is started.

This can allow for longer intervals between resource-heavy, inconvenient and painful injections.

Intravenous treatment is usually started only when oral non-heme treatment fails due to side-effects.

This point can occur later in time with self-medication heme iron because of better tolerance.

It would thus mean a significant gain in the patient quality of life. It gives freedom to travel, for instance.

The absorption of heme iron is several times higher and the side-effects rate significantly lower than for non-heme oral iron.

Heme iron is absorbed through a separate pathway and does not have to be discontinued when intravenous treatment is started.

This can allow for longer intervals between resource-heavy, inconvenient and painful injections. Oxidative stress is also avoided.

Heme iron does not need to be discontinued during injection or EPO therapy like non-heme oral iron.

Swedish company MediTec Group AB in its division FerroCare has a strong

commitment to reach people that are suffering from iron deficiency and have problems with existing supplementsIron deficiency is easily corrected using products from the OptiFer® series

Please feel free to contact us. We are looking for international distributorswww.meditec.se/FerroCare.html www.hemeiron.com

OptiFer® tablets are based on natural bovine heme iron and will safely and

efficiently keep iron counts at an optimal level