Effects of iron supplementation twice a week on attention score and haematologic measures in female high school students

<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>Iron deficiency, associated with a decline in cognitive function, is the most common nutritional deficiency globally. The present study aimed to identify the impact of weekly iron supplements on the attention function of female students from a high school in North Khorasan Province, Iran.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>This was a blind, controlled, clinical trial study, involving 200 female students who were chosen using the stratified randomised sampling method. First, laboratory studies were performed to detect iron consumption limitations. Next, the 200 students were divided randomly and equally into case and control groups. The case group was treated with 50 mg of ferrous sulfate twice a week for 16 weeks. We compared both groups' data on attention, iron status and erythrocyte indices. Questionnaires were used to collect demographic data, while clinical data was collected using complete blood count and Toulouse-Piéron tests. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, as well as paired and independent t-tests.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The mean attention scores of the case and control groups were 104.8 ± 7.0 and 52.7 ± 9.6, respectively (p < 0.001). The mean haemoglobin levels of the two groups were 12.5 ± 0.9 and 11.2 ± 1.0, respectively (p < 0.001). Compared to the control group, the attention scores and haemoglobin concentrations of the case group were found to be improved by approximately 90% and 10%, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Oral iron supplements (50 mg twice a week for 16 weeks) were able to improve the attention span and haematologic indices of female high school students.</p>

Diagnostic accuracy of nuclear medicine imaging in protein losing enteropathy : systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Scintigraphy using Tc-99m or In-111 labeled proteins is an important diagnostic modality for diagnosis of protein losing enteropathy (PLE). We systematically reviewed the available literature regarding the accuracy of scintigraphy using Tc-99m or In-111 labeled proteins for diagnosis of PLE. METHODS: Medline and SCOPUS were searched using (("protein losing") AND ("scintigraphy" OR "Nuclear Medicine")) as keywords without any language or date limit. All studies on the accuracy of scintigraphy using Tc-99m or In-111 labeled proteins in PLE were included in the systematic review. RESULTS: Overall 12 studies were included in our study. Pooled sensitivity and specificity were 87% [81-92%], and 62% [51-72%], respectively. Tc-99m labeled tracers had higher sensitivity but lower specificity compared to In-111 labeled ones. Delayed imaging could increase the sensitivity of imaging despite the lower specificity compared to the early images. Restriction of the analyses to larger studies (more than 10 patients) and to studies with the gold standard of fecal alphal-antitrypsin did not change the pooled indices. CONCLUSION: Scintigraphy using Tc-99m or In-111 labeled proteins has high sensitivity for diagnosis and localization of PLE. Using Tc-99m labeled tracers and delayed imaging can further increase the sensitivity. Despite the high sensitivity, specificity of scintigraphy is suboptimal and false positive abdominal activities can limit the usefulness of this imaging method.