Extra Iron Can Be Harmful

Too much of anything, be it even a good thing, may result harmful.

Iron is often taken against anemia, as it raises the blood's number of red blood cells. In pregnancy, women are preventively prescribed iron and many take extra iron separately or in a multivitamin pill.

But a new research at Tarbiat Modarres University, Iran, found that healthy pregnant women taking iron supplements experienced blood pressure problems. The researchers gave to the women subjects a 30mg daily dose of iron, the maximum admitted by health systems.

Anemia is a widespread symptom in pregnant women, which, if not treated, can induce premature births and low birth-weight babies.

The iron supplements were checked on women whose red blood cell level was normal. The 370 female subjects received a dose of 150mg of ferrous sulphate, which corresponds to roughly 30mg of iron, each day of their pregnancy. Another similar control pool received a "placebo" dummy pill lacking iron.

The fist group experienced a significantly higher number of cases of high blood pressure, a condition that provokes problems for mother and baby.

In many countries, iron pills administration for all pregnant women is still a routine measure. "Our trial suggests that administering it even may have some disadvantages in non-anemic women.", said lead researcher Professor Saedeh Ziaei. "Anemia is often associated with low birth weight and preterm births, but this does not mean that women should be popping iron pills, or any vitamin pills indiscriminately, to prevent poor pregnancy outcomes." said Professor Philip Steer, the editor of the BJOG, an International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

"Women should avoid taking extra iron unless recommended by their doctor or midwife." said a spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Even if in many countries iron is administered only when pregnant women are found suffering from anemia, there are many healthy pregnant women taking once-a-day multivitamin pills that contain smaller doses of iron, roughly 100% of the recommended dose of 15mg.