(Press-News.org) (WASHINGTON, August 15, 2024) – Over half of people with iron deficiency were found to still have low iron levels three years after diagnosis, and among patients whose condition was effectively treated within that timeframe, they faced longer-than-expected delays, pointing to substantial gaps in appropriate recognition and efficient treatment of the condition, according to a study published today in Blood Advances.
Iron deficiency, or when the body’s iron stores are too low, is common, and may affect up to 40% of adolescents and young women. Iron is important in maintaining many body functions, including the production of hemoglobin, the molecule in the blood that carries oxygen, and is essential to maintaining healthy cells, skin, hair, and nails. If untreated, low iron stores can lead to mood changes, fatigue, hair loss, exercise intolerance, and eventually anemia. The condition is generally first treated with oral iron supplementation, and if low iron levels persist after a few months or the patient reports side effects, intravenous (IV) iron is started. According to a previous report, up to 70% of cases go undiagnosed in high-risk populations, such as those with bleeding disorders, issues with malabsorption, or women who menstruate.
“Iron deficiency is probably a bigger problem than we realize. I’ve seen a lot of cases where people don’t have anemia, but they are walking around with very little to no iron in their body and it can have a big impact on how people feel in their day-to-day life,” said Jacob Cogan, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota and the study’s lead author. “Iron deficiency can be challenging to diagnose, but it’s easy to treat. Our findings underscore the need for a more coordinated effort to recognize and treat iron deficiency to help improve quality of life.”
For this study – the first to look at whether iron deficiency is being recognized and treated efficiently in clinical practice – Dr. Cogan and his team retrospectively analyzed electronic medical record (EMR) data from one of Minnesota’s largest health systems and identified 13,084 adults with a laboratory diagnosis of iron deficiency (with and without anemia) between 2010 and 2020 who had available follow-up data for three years.
In the study, iron deficiency was defined as a ferritin value of 25 ng/mL or less. Patients had to have at least two ferritin values – one initial value and at least one more within the three-year study period. Adequate treatment and resolution was defined as a subsequent ferritin value of at least 50 ng/mL. Most patients received some form of treatment, consistent across sex.
Of the 13,084 patients included in the study, 5,485 (42%) patients had normal iron levels within three years of diagnosis, while 7,599 (58%) had persisting iron deficiency based on low ferritin levels. Only 7% of patients had their iron levels return back to normal within the first year of diagnosis.
Factors associated with a higher likelihood of getting iron levels back to normal included older age (age 60 and up), male sex, Medicare insurance, and treatment with IV iron alone. Additionally, compared with patients who were still iron deficient, those whose condition was resolved had more follow-up blood work to check ferritin values (six vs four ferritin tests). Of note, younger patients, females, and Black individuals were most likely to remain iron deficient or experience longer lags in getting their iron stores back to a healthy level.
Even among patients whose iron levels were restored to normal during the study duration, it took nearly two years (the median time to resolution was 1.9 years), which researchers say is longer than expected and signals missed opportunities to more effectively manage the condition. While there was no data to look at whether anemia iron deficiency was more apt to be treated, Dr. Cogan says it’s reasonable to think this might be the case as iron deficiency without anemia is harder to recognize.
“Two years is too long and well beyond the timeframe within which iron deficiency should be able to be sufficiently treated and resolved [with oral or IV treatments],” said Dr. Cogan. “The numbers are pretty striking and suggest a need to put systems in place to better identify patients and treat them more efficiently.”
As with trends showing persisting iron deficiency, Dr. Cogan attributes the delays in resolution to the diagnosis either being missed or not treated to resolution. He added that there is a clear need for education about non-anemic iron deficiency and who is at high risk, more universal agreement on the best ferritin cut off for diagnosis, and efforts to create an iron deficiency clinic or pathway to “assess and treat patients more efficiently and get people feeling better faster.”
The study was limited by its reliance on EMR data and retrospective nature, which prevented researchers from determining why ferritin tests were ordered for patients or the cause of their iron deficiency.
# # #
Blood Advances (bloodadvances.org) is an online, open-access journal publishing more peer-reviewed hematology research than any other academic journal worldwide. Blood Advances is part of the Blood Journals portfolio (bloodjournals.org) from the American Society of Hematology (ASH) (hematology.org).
Claire Whetzel, 202-629-5085
cwhetzel@hematology.org
END
Over half of iron deficiency cases in large health system still unresolved at three years
Study underscores the need for improvements in the proper recognition and timely treatment of more of iron deficiency, especially among female and Black patients
2024-08-15
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
NIH launches program to advance research led by Native American communities on substance use and pain
2024-08-15
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched a program that will support Native American communities to lead public health research to address overdose, substance use, and pain, including related factors such as mental health and wellness. Despite the inherent strengths in Tribal communities, and driven in part by social determinants of health, Native American communities face unique health disparities related to the opioid crisis. For instance, in recent years, overdose death rates have been highest among American Indian and Alaska Native people. Research prioritized by Native communities is essential ...
NIH grant will support fundamental lymphoma research
2024-08-15
Weill Cornell Medicine has received a five-year, $12.4 million grant from the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, for an extensive program of basic and translational research on the biology of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), the most common form of lymphoma.
The investigator-initiated Program Project grant, led by Dr. Leandro Cerchietti, the Richard A. Stratton Associate Professor in Hematology and Oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine, and Dr. Christopher Flowers, professor and chair of the Department of Lymphoma and Myeloma at The University ...
Mind the Gap: NIH awards UMass researcher $1.9 million to study closing cellular gaps
2024-08-15
The National Institute of General Medical Sciences, a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded Yubing Sun, associate professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a $1.9 million Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award to support the exploration of the fundamental principles behind the process that close gaps caused by injury or growth between cells. This research has the potential to push forward advances in our understanding of wound healing, cellular regeneration therapies and embryonic development.
The gaps ...
Surprise Finding in study of environmental bacteria could advance search for better antibiotics
2024-08-15
**EMBARGOED UNTIL THURSDAY, AUG. 15, AT 9 A.M. ET**
In what they labeled a “surprising” finding, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers studying bacteria from freshwater lakes and soil say they have determined a protein’s essential role in maintaining the germ’s shape. Because the integrity of a bacterial cell’s “envelope” or enclosure is key to its survival, the finding could advance the search for new and better antibiotics.
The research, described August 15 in the journal mBio, suggests that loss of a protein ...
A genetic analysis of lyme disease could improve diagnosis and treatment
2024-08-15
A genetic analysis of Lyme disease bacteria may pave the way for improved diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the tick-borne ailment.
By mapping the complete genetic makeup of 47 strains of Lyme disease-causing bacteria from around the world, the international team has created a powerful resource for identifying the specific bacterial strains that infect patients. Researchers said this could enable more accurate diagnostic tests and treatments tailored to the exact type or types of bacteria causing each patient’s illness.
"This comprehensive, high-quality sequencing investigation of Lyme disease and related bacteria provides the foundation to propel the field forward,” ...
Scientists map DNA of Lyme disease bacteria
2024-08-15
A team led by CUNY Graduate Center biologists has produced a genetic analysis of Lyme disease bacteria that may pave the way for improved diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of the tick-borne ailment.
Weigang Qiu, a professor of Biology at the CUNY Graduate Center and Hunter College, and an international team including lead author Saymon Akther, a former CUNY Graduate Center Biology Ph.D. student, mapped the complete genetic makeup of 47 strains of Lyme disease-related bacteria from around the world, creating a powerful tool for identifying the bacterial strains that ...
Researchers awarded $2.8M federal grant to study potential treatment of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
2024-08-15
CLEVELAND—More than 3,400 Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths are reported annually in the United States, making it the country’s biggest cause of death of infants from 1 month to 1 year old, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Most of these deaths are classified as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), a disorder with numerous, unexplained causes that have plagued researchers for decades.
Now, with a new five-year, $2.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, researchers from Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Rainbow Babies ...
Blood pressure levels impacted by chronic occupational noise exposure
2024-08-15
Noise exposure is a known occupational hazard in some jobs, particularly for hearing loss, physical and psychological stress, and reduced concentration. A new study presented at the ACC Asia 2024 conference found in adult power loom weavers, chronic noise exposure not only increased their blood pressure overall, but also each year of exposure increased their odds of having high blood pressure by 10%.
“While the mechanism is still not well-explored, it is thought that the stress response by the body to chronic sound exposure causes hormonal imbalances that gradually leads to a permanent elevation of blood pressure,” said Golam Dastageer Prince, MBBS, MPH, medical officer ...
New study finds chronic high caffeine consumption may heighten risk for cardiovascular disease
2024-08-15
From coffee to tea, caffeinated beverages are an integral part of morning routines across the globe, but these popular drinks can be harmful when enjoyed in excess. According to a new study being presented at ACC Asia 2024 in Delhi, India, drinking over 400 mg of caffeine per day on most days of the week could increase the susceptibility of otherwise healthy individuals to cardiovascular disease.
“Regular caffeine consumption could disturb the parasympathetic system, leading to elevated blood pressure ...
$1.2 million in federal funding to study women Veterans experiencing homelessness
2024-08-15
A first-of-its-kind study led by Lawson Health Research Institute is receiving $1.2 million in funding from the federal government, delivered through the Veteran Homelessness Program, to better understand homelessness amongst women in Canada who are military Veterans.
“This is an important and yet often invisible problem,” says Dr. Cheryl Forchuk, Lawson Assistant Scientific Director based at St. Joseph’s Health Care London’s Parkwood Institute and the study lead. “This is the first Canadian study to focus exclusively on women Veterans’ experience of homelessness. Gender matters, especially when we’re talking ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Reality check: making indoor smartphone-based augmented reality work
Overthinking what you said? It’s your ‘lizard brain’ talking to newer, advanced parts of your brain
Black men — including transit workers — are targets for aggression on public transportation, study shows
Troubling spike in severe pregnancy-related complications for all ages in Illinois
Alcohol use identified by UTHealth Houston researchers as most common predictor of escalated cannabis vaping among youths in Texas
Need a landing pad for helicopter parenting? Frame tasks as learning
New MUSC Hollings Cancer Center research shows how Golgi stress affects T-cells' tumor-fighting ability
#16to365: New resources for year-round activism to end gender-based violence and strengthen bodily autonomy for all
Earliest fish-trapping facility in Central America discovered in Maya lowlands
São Paulo to host School on Disordered Systems
New insights into sleep uncover key mechanisms related to cognitive function
USC announces strategic collaboration with Autobahn Labs to accelerate drug discovery
Detroit health professionals urge the community to act and address the dangers of antimicrobial resistance
3D-printing advance mitigates three defects simultaneously for failure-free metal parts
Ancient hot water on Mars points to habitable past: Curtin study
In Patagonia, more snow could protect glaciers from melt — but only if we curb greenhouse gas emissions soon
Simplicity is key to understanding and achieving goals
Caste differentiation in ants
Nutrition that aligns with guidelines during pregnancy may be associated with better infant growth outcomes, NIH study finds
New technology points to unexpected uses for snoRNA
Racial and ethnic variation in survival in early-onset colorectal cancer
Disparities by race and urbanicity in online health care facility reviews
Exploring factors affecting workers' acquisition of exercise habits using machine learning approaches
Nano-patterned copper oxide sensor for ultra-low hydrogen detection
Maintaining bridge safer; Digital sensing-based monitoring system
A novel approach for the composition design of high-entropy fluorite oxides with low thermal conductivity
A groundbreaking new approach to treating chronic abdominal pain
ECOG-ACRIN appoints seven researchers to scientific committee leadership positions
New model of neuronal circuit provides insight on eye movement
Cooking up a breakthrough: Penn engineers refine lipid nanoparticles for better mRNA therapies
[Press-News.org] Over half of iron deficiency cases in large health system still unresolved at three yearsStudy underscores the need for improvements in the proper recognition and timely treatment of more of iron deficiency, especially among female and Black patients