Proferrin ES and Proferrin Forte) can be used when regular iron supplements such as ferrous sulfate or ferrous fumarate are not tolerated or absorbed. A clinical study demonstrated that HIP increased serum iron levels 23 times greater than ferrous fumarate on a milligram-per-milligram basis.Another alternative is ferrous glycine sulfate or ferroglycine sulfate, has less gastrointestinal side-effects than standard preparations such as iron fumarate. It is unusual among oral preparations of iron supplements in that the iron in this preparation has very high oral bioavailability, especially in the liquid formulation. This option should be evaluated before resorting to parenteral therapy. It is especially useful in iron deficiency anemia associated with autoimmune gastritis and Helicobacter pylori gastritis, where it generally has satisfactory effect.Since iron stores in the body are generally depleted, and there is a limit to what the body can process (about 2–6 mg/kg of body mass per day; i.e. for a 100 kg/220 lb man this is equal to a maximum dose of 200–600 mg/per day) without iron poisoning, this is a chronic therapy which may take 3–6 months.Due to the frequent intolerance of oral iron and the slow improvement, parenteral iron is recommended in many indications. By injection
Iron therapy (intravenously or intramuscular) is given when therapy by mouth has failed (not tolerated), oral absorption is seriously compromised (by illnesses, or when the person cannot swallow), benefit from oral therapy cannot be expected, or fast improvement is required (for example, prior to elective surgery).
Online retailers have been under scrutiny for allowing their products to be too easily purchased by youth. Various news outlets and school districts have expressed the concern that these products have a high appeal to minors wanting to experiment with nicotine due to; the multitude of sweet flavors offered, ease & speed of use, seeming innocuous, and having a discrete nature. In 2015, NRT sales fell for the first time since 2008 while sales for e-cigarettes or electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) continued to increase at a substantial rate. The evidence is that UK smokers are trying to quit with e-cigarettes rather than NRT methods.E-cigarettes are often, although not always, designed to look and feel like cigarettes. They have been marketed as less harmful alternatives to cigarettes, but very few are as yet approved as NRTs in any jurisdiction. Some electronic cigarettes have coarsely adjustable nicotine levels. Some healthcare groups have hesitated to recommend e-cigarettes for quitting smoking, because of limited evidence of effectiveness and safety. E-cigarettes are more effective than NRT in terms of abstinence from smoking at twelve months.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a list of additional tobacco products they are seeking to regulate, including electronic cigarettes. Most approved NRT products have been approved for over 20 years, however the FDA has also approved nicotine inhalers as a form of NRT.Future approaches of NRT could include nicotine preloading, a true pulmonary inhaler, and nicotine vaccines.