Although this isn't normally the primary complaint that I see in
practice, it is one that many patients complain of. It's fatigue. The
general sense of 'tiredness' or 'lack of energy' that affects a lot of
people. Many of these patients will tell me it's not a lack of sleep.
Many of these people claim they are getting 7-8 hours of sleep per
night, however, they can' t get away from the feeling of tiredness.
A
recent study from the University of Geneva and published in the
Canadian Medical Association Journal, is suggesting that women who
complain of fatigue, but who are not anemic, could benefit from iron
supplements. The study included 198 women from the ages of 18-53. 102 of
the women were given daily iron supplements and the remaining 96
received a placebo pill. The women were monitored for 12 weeks and the
results were compared.
The biggest difference the research found
was in fatigue. Interestingly enough, even the group taking placebo
pills also reported improvements in fatigue. This group reported a 29%
reduction in fatigue. However, the group given the actual iron pills
reported a 48% reduction in fatigue. "Our key findings are that iron
supplementation can improve the feeling of fatigue in nonanemic women,"
said study author Paul Vaucher, a neuroscience doctoral student at the
University of Geneva.
Asked why iron may be effective for
combating fatigue in women with low iron, but not anemic, levels,
Vaucher said, "The benefits we observed might not be explained by the
effects on blood stores alone."
"Recent neuroscience research
suggests that fatigue could be due to the lack of iron in brain tissues,
and might be completely independent of iron blood stores," he
explained. This is a fascinating twist on the role of iron in human
nutrition. To think that iron could actually affect and alter brain
physiology means we need to better appreciate the affect of
nutrition/supplements on health, mood and energy.
No comments:
Post a Comment