Iron Cuts Fatigue in Women

GENEVAIron supplementation decreased fatigue in women who had ferritin levels below 50 µg/L, according to a study published in the Canadian Medical Association (CMAJ. 2012 Jul 9). Most of the iron stored in the body is bound to the protein ferritin.

 This multicentre, parallel, randomized controlled, closed-label, observer blinded trial recruited from the practices of 44 primary care physicians in France from March to July 2006. The researchers randomly assigned 198 women aged 18 to 53 years who complained of fatigue, who had a ferritin level of less than 50 ug/L and hemoglobin greater than 12.0 g/dL to receive either oral ferrous sulfate (80 mg of elemental iron daily; n = 102) or placebo (n = 96) for 12 weeks.

The mean score on the Current and Past Psychological scale for fatigue decreased by 47.7 percent in the iron group and by 28.8 percent in the placebo group, but there were no significant effects on quality of life, depression or anxiety. Compared with placebo, iron supplementation increased hemoglobin (protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen )and ferritin, and decreased soluble transferrin receptor (a protein that increases with iron deficiency) after 12 weeks.

In 2011, a study found obese women were more likely to suffer from iron deficiency than their normal weight counterparts.