Dietary and supplement treatment of iron deficiency results in improvements in general health and fatigue in Australian women of childbearing age

Objective: To examine the effects of iron deficiency and its treatment by iron supplementation or a high iron diet on fatigue and general health measures in women of childbearing age. Design: Randomised controlled trial to compare supplement and dietary treatment of iron deficiency. Subjects: 44 iron deficient (serum ferritin < 15 mug/L or serum ferritin 15-20 mug/L, plus two of the following: serum iron < 10 mu mol/L, total iron binding capacity > 68 mu mol/L or transferrin saturation < 15%) and 22 iron replete (hemoglobin greater than or equal to 120 g/L and serum ferritin > 20 mug/L) women 18 to 50 years of age were matched for age and parity. Interventions: Iron deficient women were randomly allocated to either iron supplementation or a high iron diet for 12 weeks. Measures of Outcome: Iron deficient and iron replete participants had iron studies performed and completed the Piper Fatigue Scale (PFS) and the SF-36 general health and well-being questionnaire at baseline (TO), following the 12 week intervention (TI) and again after a six-month non-intervention phase (T2). The SF-36 includes measures of physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) health and vitality (VT). Results: MCS and VT scores were lower and PFS scores were higher for iron deficient women (diet and supplement groups) than iron replete women at baseline. Both intervention groups showed similar improvements in MCS, VT and PFS scores during the intervention phase, but mean increases in serum ferritin were greater in the supplement than the diet group. PCS scores were not related to iron status. Conclusions: Treatment of iron deficiency with either supplementation or a high iron diet results in improved mental health and decreased fatigue among women of childbearing age.

Dieting and health in young Australian women

This paper examines the prevalence of dieting behaviours and correlates with physical and mental health in young Australian women who are participants in the Australian Longitudinal Stud of Women's Health. A total of 14 686 women aged 18-23 years, randomly selected from the National Medicare database, with over-sampling from rural and remote areas, responded to a questionnaire seeking dieting and health information. The results showed that 66.5 percent of the women had a BMI within the healthy weight range (18- < 25 kg/m(2)). However only 21.6 percent of these women were happy with their weight and almost half (46 percent) had dieted to lose weight in the last year (also one in five who had a BMI < 18.5 kg/m(2)). High frequency of dieting (rather than dieting per se) and earlier dieting onset were associated with poorer physical and mental health (including depression), more disordered eating (bingeing and purging), extreme weight and shape dissatisfaction and more frequent general health problems. The results suggest that there is a need for programmes that will enhance self esteem and weight/shape acceptance and promote more appropriate strategies for maintenance of healthy weight. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

Searching for missing pieces of the sex-determination puzzle

Little is known of the mechanisms whereby the mammalian indifferent gonad develops into a testis or ovary. In XY individuals, Sry, the mammalian testis-determining gene, is expressed in the pre-Sertoli cells, which then differentiate into Sertoli cells. Other cell types, which include the germ cells, the steroidogenic cells and the connective tissue cells, must then be instructed to develop in a male-specific manner. Although some genes involved in sex-determination and differentiation processes have been identified, we know little of how they interact and cooperate to orchestrate the development of a testis or ovary. We have initiated an expression-screening program designed to identify additional genes, known or novel, which play a role in these processes. This approach is based on our belief that many of the genes we seek will be expressed in a sex-specific manner during the period of sex-determination and differentiation. Most of the genes identified previously are transcription factors and so we aim, in particular, to find genes involved in cell-to-cell communication, signal transduction, and transcriptional regulation, downstream of the differentiation of Sertoli cells. We have used a suppression subtractive-hybridization method to generate male- and female-enriched probes and libraries. Clones are validated as being sex-specific in their expression patterns by array screening and in situ hybridization. Here we report on our progress to date and the general applicability of the approach for studies in other systems. J. Exp. Zool. 290:517-522, 2001. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.