Iron Sprinkles Shown Effective for Iron Deficiency Anaemia

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Iron Sprinkles Shown Effective for Iron Deficiency Anaemia

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MONTREAL, QC -- February 4, 2002 -- Treating iron deficiency anaemia through diet supplementation using iron sprinkles has proven effective in a developing country, according to research presented here yesterday, during the Seventh Canadian Digestive Diseases Week, the annual meeting of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology.

"Iron deficiency anaemia is a major international health problem affecting four million people worldwide," said Dr. Elyanne Ratcliffe, a clinical fellow in gastroenterology at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. "It has effects on cognition and development." A researcher at Hospital for Sick Children developed the sprinkles as an alternative to ferrous sulfate drops, which are the present standard of care for iron deficiency anaemia. "Compliance has not been high with the present standard of care because of the taste of the drops and the need to measure the dose," Dr. Ratcliffe said.

A total of 30 children in a rural region of India received lipid encapsulation of iron, with 15 receiving the dietary supplement in an inpatient setting and 15 receiving it in a community setting. Children enrolled in the study were aged five months to five years. At baseline, their haemoglobin measured less than 110 g/L, with subjects in the inpatient arm having a mean initial haemoglobin (Hb) level of 89.7 g/L and the subjects in the community arm having a mean initial Hb level of 100.6 g/L. All subjects received two sachets of the iron supplement once daily for 28 days. In total, they received a daily dose of 80 mg elemental iron, 1,200 µg of vitamin A, and 100 mg of vitamin C.

At the end of the intervention, the mean Hb level was 101.8 g/L amongst patients in the inpatient arm while the mean Hb was 111.7 g/L amongst subjects in the community arm of the study, representing an equal rise in Hb in the two groups. The mean increase in haemoglobin was determined to be statistically significant in both arms of the study. The prevalence of anaemia remained at 100 percent in the inpatient arm, and it decreased from 100 percent to 36 percent in the community arm. Dr. Ratcliffe noted that children in the inpatient arm had more co-morbidities at the start of the study than children treated in the community. "The sprinkles do increase haemoglobin, and they were well accepted and well tolerated," said Dr. Ratcliffe. "The results are comparable to a larger study that was conducted in Africa."