Iron state in female adolescents

A. Ballin, M. Berar, U. Rubinstein, Y. Kleter, A. Hershkovitz and D. Meytes
Institute of Haematology, E. Wolfson Hospital, Holon and Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel.

OBJECTIVE. To document a subjective response to iron therapy in female adolescents. DESIGN. Double-blind, placebo-controlled prospective study. SETTING. High school classes in an urban community in Israel. PARTICIPANTS. Twenty-nine girls, aged 16 and 17 years, who ingested syrup containing iron (daily for 2 months) and 30 girls who received a placebo. MAIN RESULTS. By the end of the study, a statistically significant improvement in three subjective parameters, ie, lassitude, the ability to concentrate in school, and mood was reported by the girls who ingested iron compared with the controls. Sixty-five percent, 100%, and 65% of the girls, respectively, who reported improvement in the above-mentioned parameters were hypoferremic initially and became normoferremic by the end of the study. CONCLUSION. Iron supplementation may be of benefit to female adolescents, as evidenced by their responses to subjective parameters.

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