the effect of discontinuing iron supplementation on the iron status of women
abstract
twenty four women were studied in order to examine the effect that discontinued iron
supplementation has on the hematological values of serum ferritin, serum iron and hemoglobin.
initially, 111 female volunteers were screened for iron deficiency by blood analysis (serum
ferritin below 20 µg/l and/or hemoglobin below 120 g/l). on the basis of ferritin and hemoglobin
measurements, 44 women (39.6%) qualified as iron deficient. twenty four of the selected women
completed the 24 week study. mean age was 27.6 ± 7.5 years (range 18 to 40 years). each of the
subjects received the treatment of oral iron supplements (320 mg ferrous sulfate= 100 mg elemental
iron taken as slow-fe twice a day) for
12 weeks. supplementation was then discontinued for an additional
12 weeks. measurements of serum ferritin, serum iron and hemoglobin were taken at o, 6, 12, 18 and
24 weeks of the study.
statistical analysis using analysis of variance (anova) indicated significant changes (p<.05) in
serum ferritin and serum iron values. no significant (p<.05) change was found in hemoglobin values
over the course of the study. student-newman-keuls post hoc test was used to identify specific mean
differences when a significant f ratio was observed. serum ferritin values
were significantly (p<.05) increased following 6 (11.5 ± 5.3 to
26.4 ± 14.3 µg/l) and 12 (11.5 ± 5.3 to 30.6 ± 14.9 µg/l} weeks of oral iron supplementation.
twelve weeks of discontinued
supplementation did not significantly (p<.05) alter serum ferritin values as noted by mean values
of 29.0 ± 15.0 µg/l and 28.2 ± 17.1
µg/l for weeks 18 and 24, respectively. serum iron values were significantly {p<.05) increased
{15.9 ± 6.7 to 25.4 ± 15.6 µmol/l) after 6 weeks of oral iron supplementation. serum iron values at
12, 18 and 24 weeks of the study were not significantly {p .05) different from the values at week o
and week 6.
it can be concluded that oral iron supplementation {320 mg ferrous sulfate= 100 mg elemental iron
taken as slow fe twice a day for 12 weeks) was successful in raising serum ferritin values
{from 11.5 ± 5.3 to 30.6 ± 14.9 µg/l) in iron deficient women.
within the limitations of this study, 12 weeks of discontinued oral iron supplementation does not
pose a threat to the iron status of
iron repleted women.
collections
- retrospective theses [1604]