A study has found that one-third of pregnant women lack iron in their bodies and this can lead to a higher risk for thyroid problems and even pregnancy complications. These are the findings of researchers from the Saint-Pierre University Hospital in Brussels, Belgium.
"Women should be checked for iron deficiency during pregnancy, and ideally before too. Iron supplements should be given out to decrease a number of established pregnancy complications, but it needs to be proven whether they can decrease thyroid problems too," said Dr Kris Poppe, as per Science Daily. Poppe is the study's lead author and Head of the Endocrine Clinic at Saint-Pierre University Hospital.
Iron deficiency widespread in pregnant women, risk of thyroid disorder high https://t.co/E7ochfIY4D pic.twitter.com/cY0NQlkWk9
— ET Panache (@ETPanache) July 25, 2016
Pregnant Women Checked For Iron Deficiency In First Trimester
NDTV reported that the Belgian study involved 1900 pregnant women who were in their first trimester. The researchers measured the pregnant women's blood ferritin, which is an indicator of iron deficiency. The pregnant women's thyroid hormone free thyroxine (FT4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were measured as well.
A key measurement done was the pregnant women's antibodies against thyroid peroxidase which indicates thyroid autoimmunity. According to the report, when a person has thyroid autoimmunity, his or hers immune system mistakenly destroys healthy thyroid cells which causes thyroid hormone levels to crash.
Pregnant Women Found To Lack Iron, Have Thyroid Autoimmunity
MedPage Today reported that 35 percent of the pregnant women in the study were found to have iron deficiency. Among those lacking iron, 10 percent had thyroid autoimmunity compared to 6 percent among those who did not show iron deficiency.
The report said that there were also a greater number of pregnant women who had iron deficiency that had subclinical hypothyroidism compared to those who did not lack iron in their bodies. Twenty percent of iron-deficient pregnant women had subclinical hypothyroidism compared to the 16 percent of those that were not iron-deficient.
