Iron Deficient Person and Fatigue and Illness - Research Paper Example

It occurs in varying degrees, from mild to severe, to iron deficiency anemia (IDA); and is usually due to low dietary intake of iron, incomplete absorption in the intestine and increased loss of dietary iron. This paper aims to critically evaluate the hypothesis that iron deficiency renders a person vulnerable to fatigue and illnesses, on the basis of a review of unbiased researches dealing with the impact of dietary iron intake (or the lack of it), on human health.

A study designed by Zhu and Haas (334) studied the effect of iron depletion without anemia, on physical performance based on VO2max (maximal pulmonary consumption of oxygen), d-efficiency (VO2/external work rate) and ventilatory threshold. The hypothesis that “VO2 remaining same for iron sufficient and depleted individuals, d-efficiency and ventilator threshold would be higher for latter group”, was tested on 15 women of each group, based on various criteria to assess the iron level and physical performance level. The difference of the parameters in the two groups was analyzed using t-test and ANOVA and the effect of iron depletion on physical performance was estimated by a multiple regression analysis was. Only VO2max, was found to be significantly lower in iron-depleted women, the rest remained the same i.e. the hemoglobin level and oxygen-carrying capacity remain unaltered, but there was a decline in the iron storage capacity, low oxygen diffusion rate, respiratory oxidative capacity, etc. Hence, iron depletion leads to a lower maximum consumption of oxygen and reduced physical performance.

Another similar research by Brutsaert et al. (441) aimed to study the hypothesis that iron supplementation reduces fatigue by investigating the relationship between tissue level iron deficiency and progressive fatigue in young women, during 8 min dynamic knee extension exercise. 20 non-anemic women with sedentary lifestyle & low iron levels were given either iron supplements (10mg Fe) or placebo randomly in a double-blind experiment, for a span of 6 weeks and fatigue level was estimated using a 2-3s maximal voluntary static contractions (MVCs) along with dynamic knee extensions. Post-treatment, while the placebo group exhibited a rise in serum iron and transferrin saturation, the placebo group showed a rise in serum transferrin receptor concentrations; also the MVC rate accelerated in the iron group but remained unchanged in the placebo group. Whether the reason for MVC enhancement was an increase in the iron index and/or tissue iron level change cannot be said conclusively under the conditions of the study.

Iron deficiency, besides fatigue also renders the body susceptible to various diseases due to a negative impact on the immune system, especially t-cell lymphocyte function. A study was conducted by Latunde-Dada and Young (207), in mice, to establish the relationship of iron deficiency to T-cell activity. The mice were nutritionally induced for 6 weeks, to develop varying degrees of iron deficiency and as a result lymphocytes number was found to be markedly decline, along with reduced production of interleukin 2 in proliferating cells. Thus it was established that the disease vulnerability is a direct consequence of iron deficiency leading to declining in immunity.

Prevention of iron deficiency can be ensured by the inclusion of iron-rich food viz. raisins, red meat, beef heart, legumes, fish, poultry, whole grains and green vegetables, etc, along with vitamin C sources to enhance iron absorption (Diaz et al., 436). The meat sources need to be in balance with the plant sources.