Photo Credit: Siddharth Pandit

The following is a summary of “Iron deficiency: prevalence, mortality risk, and dietary relationships in general and heart failure populations,” published in the March 2024 issue of Cardiology by Sun et al.

Iron deficiency (ID) is a common symptom in patients with heart failure. However, researchers have yet to understand the symptoms very well.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study understanding the prevalence and effects of ID and investigating how diet impacts iron and folate levels. 

They analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2002) to study ID and diet’s prevalence, prognosis, and relation in 6,660 general population and 182 heart failure patients.

The results showed no significant difference in ID rates after matching patients with the general population. Transferrin saturation (TSAT) <20% is linked to a 3.49 times higher 5-year mortality risk (HR: 3.49, CI 1.40-8.72, P=0.007). Ferritin <30 ng/ml was linked to higher ten-year (HR: 2.70, CI: 1.10-6.67, P=0.031) and 15-year all-cause mortality (HR: 2.64, CI: 1.40-2.00, P=0.003) in patients with HF. Higher dietary folate and lower iron reduced ID risk (ferritin<100 ng/ml) in HF (OR: 0.80, P=0.047).

Investigators concluded that ID rates were typical for all groups. However, ferritin affected long-term outcomes, while low TSAT affected short-term outcomes in both groups. Folate-rich diets help prevent or treat iron deficiency in heart failure. 

Source: frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2024.1342686/full