Eur J Clin Nutr. 2003 Sep;57(9):1169-75. Related Articles, Links

Consequences of iron depletion on health in menstruating women.

Duport N, Preziosi P, Boutron-Ruault MC, Bertrais S, Galan P, Favier A,
Lafond JL, Hercberg S.

U557 INSERM/U1125 Inra/ ISTNA (Conservatoire National des Arts et
Metiers), Paris, France.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the consequences of single iron depletion on
health in menstruating women, a common but rarely investigated
situation in industrialized countries. DESIGN: We studied data issued
from the SU.VI.MAX. cohort via a transversal and a longitudinal (2-y
follow-up) approach. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Iron-depleted menstruating
women (ferritin &<15 micro g/l, n=472) were compared with
iron-sufficient (ferritin 30-80 micro g/l, n=393) menstruating women
(aged 35-51 y) in terms of health variables and quality of life (DUKE
score) using logistic regression and analysis of variance. RESULTS: The
risk of any infection or of specific types of infections was not
increased by iron deficiency. Regarding the DUKE health profile, no
specific score was significantly different between the two groups: only
the scores reflecting 'physical health' (P=0.09) and 'perceived health'
(P=0.12) showed a trend toward a lower level, while the best score for
'mental health' (P=0.11) was found in the group of iron-depleted women.
The only significant difference between iron-depleted and
iron-sufficient women concerned memory disorders, which were
significantly less common in iron-depleted women, Odds ratio=0.7
(0.6-0.9; P=0.03). CONCLUSION: There is no conclusive evidence that an
absence of iron stores has negative consequences; however, we must
consider that in the case of a worsening of the iron balance, it may
lead to a rapid decrease in the level of functional compounds.
SPONSORSHIP: The laboratory Robapharm, Pierre Fabre, France.

PMID: 12947438 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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