The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7251 p741
31 May 2003

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Iron supplements could reduce fatigue in non-anaemic women

Iron supplements could solve the problem of unexplained fatigue in women even if they are not anaemic, new research suggests. However, the effect may be restricted to women with a low blood ferritin level.

Swiss researchers examined the effect of iron therapy in 136 women aged 18 to 55 years who had consulted their general practitioners primarily with symptoms of tiredness. The women were assigned to either oral ferrous sulphate (80mg/day elemental iron) or placebo and were asked not to take over-the-counter vitamins or additional iron supplements during the study. The level of fatigue perceived by patients was measured at baseline and after one month using a visual analogue scale and questionnaire.

The researchers found that women who received iron supplements reported a larger decrease in their level of fatigue than did those given placebo (29 per cent decrease compared with 13 per cent). Only women with low serum ferritin concentrations improved with iron supplementation. However, low serum ferritin concentrations were common, with 85 per cent of women taking part in the study having a ferritin level of 50µg/L or lower.

"Identifying iron deficiency without anaemia as a potential cause of fatigue is important," the researchers say. They suggest that this may avoid inappropriately attributing symptoms of tiredness to emotional causes. "Instituting iron therapy early may also improve quality of life," they suggest (BMJ 2003;326:1124).