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Low-dose iron helps elderly anaemics

Low-dose iron therapy improves haemoglobin levels in elderly patients suffering from anaemia, but with lesser side effects.

Low-dose iron helps elderly anaemics

Low-dose iron therapy improves haemoglobin levels in elderly patients suffering from anaemia, but with lesser side effects. Anaemia occurs when haemoglobin in red blood cells is insufficient to carry enough oxygen to meet the body's needs. Haemoglobin, a protein in these cells, requires adequate levels of iron for its formation. Researchers from the Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot, Israel, conducted a study involving 90 hospitalised patients over 80 years of age who were randomly selected to receive 15 or 50 milligrams of a liquid iron compound or 150 milligrams of iron tablets as a treatment for iron-deficiency anaemia. As a comparison group, 30 patients without anaemia received 15 mg of iron for 60 days. Haemoglobin levels were assessed on the day therapy was initiated and after 30 and 60 days of treatment. Fifteen minutes after the first dose was given, a rise in blood iron levels was noted in anaemic patients, but not in their non-anaemic counterparts. Regardless of the iron dose given, the increase in haemoglobin levels over 60 days was nearly the same. Adverse effects, by contrast, were significantly more common with higher iron doses. The main side effects reported included abdominal discomfort, nausea, vomiting, changes in bowel movements and black stools. This study demonstrates that small doses of iron, one tenth of what is generally recommended, efficiently raise haemoglobin and iron stores in elderly patients without producing significant adverse effects.
American Journal of Medicine,
December 2005
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