Prevalence and Relationships of Iron Deficiency Anemia with Blood Cadmium and Vitamin D Levels in Korean Women

Abstract

Anemia, iron deficiency (ID), and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) are common disorders. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of anemia, ID, and IDA in Korean females. We examined the associations between IDA, heavy metals in blood, vitamin D level and nutritional intakes. The study was performed using on data collected from 10,169 women (aged ≥10 yr), including 1,232 with anemia, 2,030 with ID, and 690 with IDA during the fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES V; 2010-2012). Prevalence and 95% confidence intervals were calculated, and path analysis was performed to identify a multivariate regression model incorporating IDA, heavy metals in blood, vitamin D level, and nutritional intakes. The overall prevalence of anemia, ID and IDA was 12.4%, 23.11%, and 7.7%, respectively. ID and IDA were more prevalent among adolescents (aged 15-18 yr; 36.5% for ID; 10.7% for IDA) and women aged 19-49 yr (32.7% for ID; 11.3% for IDA). The proposed path model showed that IDA was associated with an elevated cadmium level after adjusting for age and body mass index (β=0.46, P<0.001). Vitamin D levels were found to affect IDA negatively (β=-0.002, P<0.001). This study shows that the prevalence of anemia, ID, and IDA are relatively high in late adolescents and women of reproductive age. Path analysis showed that depressed vitamin D levels increase the risk of IDA, and that IDA increases cadmium concentrations in blood. Our findings indicate that systematic health surveillance systems including educational campaigns and well-balanced nutrition are needed to control anemia, ID, and IDA.

Kidney Cadmium Toxicity, Diabetes and High Blood Pressure: The Perfect Storm

“…This makes women and children to be subpopulations at risk of Cd toxicity. Suh et al (2016) reported overall prevalence of iron deficiency of 23.1% in a sample group of 10,169 females (aged ≥ 10 yrs) in a Korean NHANES 2010-2012. Iron deficiency was more prevalent among adolescents (36.5%) and women, aged 19-49 yrs (32.7%).…”

“…For non-smokers, diet is a major Cd source, while tobacco is an additional source for those who smoke (Satarug et al 2013). Women of reproductive age and children are at greatest risk of Cd toxicity because of their enhanced gastrointestinal and pulmonary absorption rates for Cd (Barregard et al 2010;Meltzer et al 2010;Suh et al 2016). After deposition in the kidney, an extremely small amount of Cd is excreted in urine, due to a lack of excretory mechanisms.…”

Reduced Vitamin D levels and Iron Deficiency Anaemia in Pregnant Women: An Evolving Correlation

“…Quite interestingly, we noted a very strong correlation between vitamin D and mean cell Various conclusions and hypotheses can be drawn from the findings. It is quite evident from our statistical results that vitamin D is significantly associated with iron deficiency anaemia and the linked association may be attributed by the possible interlinked metabolism and biologic pathways as mentioned in the studies by Suh YJ et al 6 in Korean Women, Qader EA et al 7 and Lee JA et al 8 in healthy female children and adolescents. These findings provide evidence suggesting that Vitamin D deficiency is common during pregnancy, which leads to adverse pregnancy outcome.…”

“…5 A study by Suh YJ et al in Korean women concluded that vitamin D levels were found to affect IDA negatively. 6 Similarly, Qader EA et al conducted a case control study in Erbil Iraq and the results indicated a significant moderate positive correlation between vitamin D and serum iron levels in children aged 1-5 years. 7 A study by Lee JA et al concluded an increased risk of iron deficiency anemia in healthy female children and adolescents who were vitamin D deficient.…”

Reduction in Prevalence of Hypertension and Blood Heavy Metals among Curry-Consumed Korean

“…Pb and Hg concentrations were lower in females than in males, whereas Cd concentration was higher in females (Table 4). Fe and Cd compete for absorption and transportation in the body (Montalbetti et al 2014), because they use the same transporter (divalent metal transporter 1(DMIT1)), and thus, reduction in Fe can increase Cd concentrations, and females of reproductive age and children are susceptible to Cd exposure (Suh et al 2016). In males, Pb and Cd concentrations were significantly lower those that consumed curry more than once a month during the previous year (P = 0.037, < 0.001, respectively), whereas in females, Hg and Cd concentrations were significantly lower (P = 0.002, 0.001, respectively).…”