Iron-Deficiency Anemia May Linger in Infants

A study has found that children three to four years old who were treated for iron-deficiency anemia in infancy show slower transmission of nerve impulses throughout the brain in both the auditory and visual systems. The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Michigan (U-M, Ann Arbor, USA) and the University of Chile (Santiago).

The investigators hypothesize that the differences in nerve conduction are due to problems in myelination because iron is required for normal myelination. The myelin sheath, which acts like the casing of a sausage around the nerve, allows for more speedy transmission of signals from the brain to the rest of the body or from the periphery back to the brain. Without myelin, signals cannot be transmitted efficiently. Chile was chosen as the study site because it was one of the few places in the world where there is a very sophisticated infant neurophysiology laboratory and also a high prevalence of iron deficiency in infants.

The next step in the research program will be to determine the direct effects of iron on the developing brain in studies combining research in laboratory rats, nonhuman primates, and young infants, and to determine whether the auditory and visual effects resolve or not. "There is increasing evidence of subtle differences in behavior and development with early iron defiency and that effects can be long lasting,” says Dr. Betsy Lozoff, director of the U-M Center for Human Growth & Development.




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