Geritol

Geritol is the name of an American vitamin and mineral supplement.

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The name is derived from the root "geri-", meaning old (as in "geriatrics") with the "i" for iron. The product has been promoted from almost the beginning of the mass media era as a cure for "iron-poor tired blood". In the early 20th century, many medical doctors and other health professionals felt that much of the tiredness often associated with old age was due to iron deficiency anemia. This theory was later discredited, but Geritol was already well known and continued to be marketed, in both original liquid form and in tablets.

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In the early days of television the marketing of Geritol was somewhat tied into the quiz show scandal, since Geritol sponsored the show proven to be the most thoroughly corrupted, Twenty-One. After that, for many years Geritol was largely marketed on television programs that appealed primarily to older viewers, such as The Lawrence Welk Show and Ted Mack and the Original Amateur Hour.

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The product is now owned by the multinational pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline.

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Vitamin: A Vitamin is an organic molecule required by a living organism in minute amounts for normal health. An organism deprived of all sources of a particular vitamin will eventually suffer from disease symptoms specific to the missing vitamin....

Mineral: This article is about minerals in the geologic sense; for nutrient minerals see dietary mineral; for the band see Mineral (band)....

Geriatrics: Geriatrics is the branch of medicine that focuses on health promotion and the prevention and treatment of disease and disability in later life. The term itself can be distinguished from gerontology, which is the study of the aging process itself....