Distracted Young Women May Need More Iron

[Guest guest]

It never ceases to amaze me, how much research money is wasted, just

to validate the obvious.

" Iron, an oxygen-carrying component of blood, is especially

important for women, whose bodies absorb less iron than men and lose

it more frequently because of blood loss during menstruation.

Doctors have long known that anemia brought on by iron deficiency

can cause fatigue, irritability and difficulty concentrating...The

study...found that women ages 18 to 35 suffered many of the same

effects from iron deficiency...Scientists said younger women may be

particularly at risk for iron deficiency because of their diet. Red

meat is loaded with easily absorbable iron; fruits and vegetables

not only have less iron, the iron they have is not easily absorbed.

Fully 20 percent of the women in the Penn State study...were either

iron-deficient or anemic. " Taking a look at the typical college

student, they may be financially strapped, so buying a lot of iron-

rich foods may not be their top priority, especially for females, "

Maybe they will have a Phase Two study to discover that another

reason for the " dietary deficiency " has to do with heightened body

image awareness at that age. They can then follow that up with a

Phase Three that brings in the typical college age idealism of " save

the planet - no red meat " yadda yadda yadda mind-set.

[Guest guest]

It never ceases to amaze me, how much research money is wasted, just

to validate the obvious.

" Iron, an oxygen-carrying component of blood, is especially

important for women, whose bodies absorb less iron than men and lose

it more frequently because of blood loss during menstruation.

Doctors have long known that anemia brought on by iron deficiency

can cause fatigue, irritability and difficulty concentrating...The

study...found that women ages 18 to 35 suffered many of the same

effects from iron deficiency...Scientists said younger women may be

particularly at risk for iron deficiency because of their diet. Red

meat is loaded with easily absorbable iron; fruits and vegetables

not only have less iron, the iron they have is not easily absorbed.

Fully 20 percent of the women in the Penn State study...were either

iron-deficient or anemic. " Taking a look at the typical college

student, they may be financially strapped, so buying a lot of iron-

rich foods may not be their top priority, especially for females, "

Maybe they will have a Phase Two study to discover that another

reason for the " dietary deficiency " has to do with heightened body

image awareness at that age. They can then follow that up with a

Phase Three that brings in the typical college age idealism of " save

the planet - no red meat " yadda yadda yadda mind-set.

[Guest guest]

It never ceases to amaze me, how much research money is wasted, just

to validate the obvious.

" Iron, an oxygen-carrying component of blood, is especially

important for women, whose bodies absorb less iron than men and lose

it more frequently because of blood loss during menstruation.

Doctors have long known that anemia brought on by iron deficiency

can cause fatigue, irritability and difficulty concentrating...The

study...found that women ages 18 to 35 suffered many of the same

effects from iron deficiency...Scientists said younger women may be

particularly at risk for iron deficiency because of their diet. Red

meat is loaded with easily absorbable iron; fruits and vegetables

not only have less iron, the iron they have is not easily absorbed.

Fully 20 percent of the women in the Penn State study...were either

iron-deficient or anemic. " Taking a look at the typical college

student, they may be financially strapped, so buying a lot of iron-

rich foods may not be their top priority, especially for females, "

Maybe they will have a Phase Two study to discover that another

reason for the " dietary deficiency " has to do with heightened body

image awareness at that age. They can then follow that up with a

Phase Three that brings in the typical college age idealism of " save

the planet - no red meat " yadda yadda yadda mind-set.

[Guest guest]

> It never ceases to amaze me, how much research money is wasted,

just

> to validate the obvious.

>

> Maybe they will have a Phase Two study to discover that another

> reason for the " dietary deficiency " has to do with heightened body

> image awareness at that age. They can then follow that up with a

> Phase Three that brings in the typical college age idealism

of " save

> the planet - no red meat " yadda yadda yadda mind-set.

LOL!! You better not say it out loud, Mike, it may happen!

Love Lana

[Guest guest]

Distracted

Young Women May Need More Iron

April 28, 2004

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Young women who have trouble concentrating

might just need more iron in their diets, researchers say.

Women in the Penn State study who were iron-deficient performed significantly

worse on memory and attention tests than healthy women, and an iron

supplement was all it took to correct the problem.

" We were able to bring it right back to

normal, back to the level of the iron-sufficient women, " said

Murray-Kolb, a Penn State nutritional researcher.

Iron, an oxygen-carrying component of blood,

is especially important for women, whose bodies absorb less iron than men and

lose it more frequently because of blood loss during menstruation.

Doctors have long known that anemia brought

on by iron deficiency can cause fatigue, irritability and difficulty

concentrating. But most research on less-severe iron deficiency has been

limited to children, said Ritchie, director of the dietetics program at Harding University in Searcy,

Ark.

The study, presented last week at an

American Society of Nutritional Sciences conference, found that women ages 18

to 35 suffered many of the same effects from iron deficiency.

The women were given several computerized

tests to gauge attention and memory. Women who were anemic were both slower

and less accurate than healthy women. Women who were iron-deficient but not

anemic completed the tests as quickly as healthy women but were significantly

less accurate.

Women who did poorly in the initial tests

performed as well as the others after they increased their iron intake.

Scientists said younger women may be

particularly at risk for iron deficiency because of their diet. Red meat is

loaded with easily absorbable iron; fruits and vegetables not only have less

iron, the iron they have is not easily absorbed.

Fully 20 percent of the women in the Penn State study -- many of them university students -- were

either iron-deficient or anemic.

" Taking a look at the typical college

student, they may be financially strapped, so buying a lot of iron-rich foods

may not be their top priority, especially for females, " Ritchie said.

Copyright 2004 The

Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Hugs,

Deanna