Iron supplements are often recommended as a treatment for fatigue in women, but evidence of their effect has been scarce. Now a randomized trial suggests that for certain women, these supplements do help.
French researchers studied 198 menstruating women ages 18 to 53 who complained of fatigue but were otherwise healthy. They all had ferritin levels less than 50 micrograms per liter, at the lower end of normal. (Ferritin is a protein that binds to iron.) Half took 80 milligrams of iron daily, and the other half a placebo. The researchers measured fatigue using a validated questionnaire at the start and end of the study.
After 12 weeks, patients receiving the iron pills reported an average 47.7 percent decrease in fatigue, and those on placebo a 28.8 percent decrease. The researchers also found that iron supplements increased the production of red blood cells.
The lead author of the study, Paul Vaucher, a doctoral student in neuroscience at the University of Geneva, said that women who are feeling fatigue of unknown cause should see a doctor, since iron deficiency is only one cause of fatigue. ?If iron is the problem,? he said, ?it can only be found on blood tests.?
The study was published last week in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The authors have financial relationships with several pharmaceutical companies.
Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=a7ec0168a8481a80662cf978c91cec13
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