Praktikos Institute

Iron deficiency predicts lower IQ scores and poor higher-order thinking skills in children adopted from institutional settings like orphanages, according to a new longitudinal study. The study analyzed data on 55 children adopted from international institutions, with a focus on nutritional status. Conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota, the research appears in the journal Child Development.

New research by scientists in the United Kingdom has found that iron deficiency increases your chance of suffering a stroke by making the blood stickier. In a study published in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers from the Imperial College London acknowledged previous research which indicated that iron deficiency can be a risk factor for ischemic stroke — which occurs when small blood clots interrupt blood flow to the brain — in both adults and children.

More than 15 million people worldwide suffer a stroke every year, resulting in almost 6 million deaths. Now, new research from Imperial College London in the UK finds that iron deficiency could increase a person’s risk of stroke by making the blood sticky.

The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of calcium phosphate and/or vitamin D3 on bone and mineral metabolism.

One of the greatest challenges for pregnant women is maintaining adequate iron levels from conception and throughout gestation. Iron is critical for maintaining a woman’s red iron cell stores and to properly support development of a fetus. With the bioavailability of different iron forms varying so greatly and the preference for lower dose iron supplementation gaining acceptance, researchers of the referenced study sought a comparison of different iron forms and doses.

In animal models, excess luminal iron exacerbates colonic inflammation and cancer development. Moreover, in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients with mild to moderate disease activity dietary fortificant iron intake is inversely related to quality of life. Here we sought to determine whether dietary iron intakes were also related to quality of life in IBD patients in remission.

Giving daily iron supplements to anemic primary-school–aged children can have cognitive and physical benefits, according to a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Researchers have discovered that low iron levels in blood and anemia could be linked to increased risks for dementia, according to a study published in the journal Neurology. Anemia occurs when the number of red blood cells or concentrations of hemoglobin, a protein inside red blood cells, are low.

People who get insufficient sleep are more likely to suffer from chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, depression and obesity, as well as from cancer, increased mortality and reduced quality of life and productivity. It is estimated that 50-70 million American adults suffer from a sleep disorder.

A new, noninvasive technique for tracking stem cells after transplantation—developed by a cross-disciplinary team of radiologists, chemists, statisticians and materials scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine—could help surgeons determine whether a procedure to repair injured or worn-out knees is successful.