Almost 30% of women in the world have anemia, and its most common cause is iron deficiency 1 . In Poland, approximately 25% of women aged 15 to 49 suffer from anemia 2 . Does this mean that each of us must supplement iron preventively? Absolutely not.
Both iron deficiency and excess carry serious health risks. In other words, what will save one Polish woman may harm three if supplementation is implemented without medical supervision.
Under normal conditions, very few free iron molecules circulate in our blood. It is either part of the hemoglobin protein, stored for storage in the form of ferritin protein, or bound to the transport protein transferrin. If we start supplementing iron unnecessarily, there are more free iron molecules in the bloodstream. When there are a lot of them, they start to damage our cells. Excess iron leads to poisoning and this is quite common, especially among children 3 . In the early stages, poisoning manifests itself in the form of abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting.
If we continue unnecessary iron supplementation for a long time, it may accumulate in internal organs , causing, among others: cancer 4 , brain and liver damage, sometimes even fatal 5 .
Iron is one of the key elements during pregnancy , its deficiency may cause premature birth and prevent the fetus from gaining weight. It may also slow down the development of a future child's brain 6 .
But excess iron during pregnancy also has its side effects. Most scientific societies in the world, including the Polish Gynecological Society (PTG), recommend taking this element only if its deficiency has been confirmed by tests. 7 . Doctors and scientists draw attention to the fact that an oversupply of iron may lead to the development of insulin resistance, diabetes of both types 8 , also gestational diabetes 9 and preeclampsia (preeclampsia). 10 . These complications occur if a woman planning a pregnancy or a pregnant woman takes iron supplements for a long time "just in case" without having anemia. This is a classic case where we want to do well and achieve the opposite effect than intended.
Taking into account the PTG recommendations and scientific evidence on the potential harmfulness of iron supplementation during pregnancy, we have not added this element to the Everyday Database for pregnant women .
We have already explained that you do not have to take iron prophylactically, unnecessarily. But apart from the health risks associated with such supplementation, in most cases it is simply not very pleasant. Probably everyone who takes iron has experienced one of these unpleasant symptoms at least once :
It is generally considered that these should not be a cause for concern and are normal, although sometimes they can be an early sign of iron poisoning or digestive diseases. Regardless of the causes, these symptoms are troublesome and everyone would prefer to avoid them, but people with diagnosed iron deficiency will unfortunately have to face them.
To sum up , based on the hard arguments mentioned above, we have not added an element to our databases on a daily basis, supplementation of which is not necessary in most cases. Moreover, taking iron for a long time without specialist supervision may do more harm than good . However, if you really have iron deficiency, your doctor must select the therapeutic dose.
Bibliography: “WHO Global Anaemia estimates, 2021 Edition”, World Health Organization, accessed December 22, 2021. Matacz M., "Anemia - where does it come from, who suffers from it and what to do when it appears?" Zdrowie.pap.pl, September 25, 2020 Yuen HW, Becker W., “Iron Toxicity”, [in]: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing, 2021 Arnarson A., “The Dark Side of Iron - Why Too Much is Harmful.” June 4, 2017 Ingleson K., “What to know about iron poisoning.” Medical News Today, August 12, 2017 Rahtan M., “The need for iron supplementation in pregnant women is common.” Puls Medycyny, March 11, 2021 Zimmer M., Sieroszewski P., Oszukowski P. et al., "Recommendations of the Polish Society of Gynecologists and Obstetricians regarding supplementation in pregnant women." Gynecology and Practical Perinatology 2020 Hansen JB, Moen IW, Mandrup-Poulsen T., “Iron: the hard play er in diabetes pathophysiology.” Acta Physiol (Oxf). 2014 Rawal S., Hinkle SN, Bao W. et al., “A longitudinal study of iron status during pregnancy and the risk of gestational diabetes: findings from a prospective, multiracial cohort.” Diabetologia 2017 Jirakittidul P., Sirichotiyakul S., Ruengorn C. et al., “Effect of iron supplementation during early pregnancy on the development of gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia.” Arch Gynecol Obstet 2018 .
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Napisała: Hanna Borowska
Editor, journalist, science writer, certified nutrition consultant. Motherhood made her interest in health issues change the direction of her professional path. She has completed several trainings and courses in Poland and abroad in the field of dietetics, functional medicine and aromatherapy. She is passionate about the unexplored power of the human microbiome. She graduated with honors from the Faculty of Journalism and Political Science at the University of Warsaw. For many years associated with Euroradio.fm.
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