About Iron Deficiency

 

Iron deficiency ranks among the top ten health issues globally to the WHO (World Health Organization). Affecting 1.6 billion people worldwide, it can cause anemia, resulting in diminished work capacity, increased mortality in childbirth, and irreversible cognitive impairment of young infants.

Women and children are particularly vulnerable. UNICEF estimates that iron deficiency undermines the health of 500 million women of reproductive age and severe iron deficiency leads to the death of approximately 10 percent of the half million women in pregnancy and childbirth each year.

In Europe approximately 10 percent of women and children are suffering from iron deficiency anemia. In developing countries this number is significantly higher. One of the key reasons for this continuing program is the issue of iron bioavailability, i.e., absorption of iron into the body. The source of iron in food that is absorbed best by the human body is heme-iron present in red meat. Iron as present in grains and vegetables is much les well absorbed. Hence in case of low meat consumption e.g. vegetarians, but also billions of people in developing countries to-date, this implies a risk of iron deficiency anemia. Additionally, unlike in the industrialized world, diets in developing countries are invariably rich in a phosphorous compound called phytate. This compound strongly binds all non-heme-iron in food, thus rendering it unavailable or absorption. These two dietary habits are thought to be the major causes of the still high prevalence of iron deficiency anemia, particularly in developing countries.

AkzoNobel's Ferric Sodium EDTA, Ferrazone^®, has been demonstrated to be both safe and effective in reducing iron deficiency, even in inhibitory diets. Additionally, it is relatively "food-friendly" due to the binding of the iron to the EDTA ligand, which prevents two well-known drawbacks of many currently used iron fortificants i.e. metallic taste and teeth staining. As options to improve iron status of individuals via dietary approaches are quite limited, Ferric Sodium EDTA could offer a welcome opportunity.